
Copyright ]^^ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE BIBLE 

in fiQoDern %iQbt 



THE BIBLE 

in flDobern Xtobt 

A Course of Lectures before the Bible 
Department of the Woman's Club, Omaha 

"By 3obn Meslei? Conlei?, 1S>.W. 



5 , " >> >. 







Philadelphia 
XLbc (3cimtb anD IRowlanD prc00 

MCMIV 



^^'^I 

c^ 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two OoDles Received 
JUN IG 1904 

^ Oopyrtfirht Entry 

CLASS CV xxo. Na 
COPY B 



COPYRIGHT 1904 BY THE 
AMERICAN BAPTIST 
PUBLICATION SOCIETY 

Published June, 1904 



jfrom tbc Society's own f>ve00 



PREFACE 

The Bible Department, in the Omaha 
Woman's Club, was a new departure last 
year. It attracted the attention of many 
other clubs and letters of inquiry were re- 
ceived from many quarters. Appendix A 
gives a good idea of the plan of work, while 
Appendix B shows the spirit which has pre- 
vailed. One of the first questions to be 
settled at the beginning of the work, was 
whether to take up the study of the Bible 
direct, or to begin with a course about the 
Bible. The latter was decided upon, and 
the lectures which follow are the result. 
They are here given in the form in which 
they were originally presented. One im- 
portant feature, however, is lacking, that 
is the discussion and the questions which 
followed the lecture. 

Of course there has been no attempt at 
an exhaustive treatment of the subjects 
considered. Those wanting this will seek 
it in more pretentious volumes. But there 
has been an effort to set forth clearly, con- 

V 



I>reface 

cisely, and comprehensively matters of 
great moment to every one interested in 
the Bible. The author hopes that many 
who have no time for extended study will 
find this book of real help to them, and 
that it will prove of value in awakening in- 
terest in, and promoting the study of, the 
Bible and all that relates to this wonder- 
ful book. 

John Wesley Conley. 

Omaha, Neb., Jan. i, 1904. 



VI 



CONTENTS 

LECTURES PAGE 

i. introductory 9 

ii. right attitude of mind toward 
the bible 13 

iii. the essential character of the 
Bible 25 

IV. The Composition of the Bible . 39 

V. manuscripts and translations . 58 

VI. light from ancient monuments 

and documents 74 

VII. THE Bible and Modern Science . 93 

VIII. THE influence of THE BIBLE UPON 

ART no 

IX. ETHICS AND THE BIBLE 127 

X. THE BIBLE AND WOMAN 144 

XI. THE EDUCATIVE VALUE OF BIBLE 

STUDY 163 

XII. THE BIBLE AND THE SCHOOLS ... 175 

XIII. MODERN PROGRESS AND THE BIBLE. 193 

XIV. THE BIBLE AND CHRIST 209 

APPENDIX A 233 

APPENDIX B 237 

vii 




The Bible in Modern Light 



Intro^uctotis 

EMBERS OF THE Bible Depart- 
ment OF the Omaha Woman's 
Club. Ladies : I am not unmind- 
ful of the honor and of the responsibility 
involved in the work which you have 
invited me to undertake as instructor in 
this department, and am exceedingly de- 
sirous that our work together shall be both 
pleasant and profitable and shall fully jus- 
tify this new departure in the work of the 
Woman's Club. 

It is important that we have, at the out- 
set, a thorough understanding of certain 
matters connected with the work proposed. 
Permit me to say a few words in reference 
to the propriety of a Department for Bible 
Study in a Woman's Club. It may seem 
at first thought impracticable to carry on 
such a work because of the great diversity 
of religious views which exist. And yet 

. 9 



^be Mblc in nHodern Xi^bt 

the situation is not very different from that 
found in other departments in which the 
work is successfully prosecuted. 

In sociology, for example, all sorts of 
theories prevail, ranging all the way from 
out-and-out socialism to thorough-going 
imperialism, and yet we do not think of 
neglecting these vital matters because of 
those differences. In literature too, there 
are many differing schools, from the real- 
ism of Zola and Tolstoy to the most refined 
idealism of the most charming writers that 
can be named. In science there are differ- 
ent theories, extending from the blank ma- 
terialism of a Tyndall, finding *'the promise 
and the potency of all things in matter," 
to the transcendentalism of a Berkeley, 
finding spirit the source and sum of all 
things. And yet with all these radical and 
far-reaching differences, sociology, litera- 
ture, and science are constantly included 
in the studies of the club. It must be 
borne in mind, however, that religion is so 
intimately connected with the deeper expe- 
riences of the soul, and so closely identified 
with many sacred institutions, traditions, 
and customs, that it is the most difficult of 
all subjects for those who differ to discuss 
calmly, amicably, and satisfactorily. Hence 

10 



IntroDuctors 

it is that religious questions are quite gener- 
ally left to be studied together by those 
who are substantially agreed upon the 
matters under consideration, a plan which 
may be promotive of peace, if not always 
of progress. Surely Bible study may well 
claim a place in women's clubs, and there 
are certainly intelligence, charity, and fra- 
ternity enough in our day to enable such 
study to be carried on in a manner to bring 
profit to all. 

The religious world is divided into many 
denominations, and representatives from all 
the leading denominations are present in 
this department. Hence one of the first 
questions that confronts us is to what extent 
we shall consider those questions which 
divide the religious world into denomina- 
tions. Can we avoid them entirely ? 
There are many of these questions which 
are of a secondary nature which can be 
avoided, and which, I think, in a class of 
this character should be entirely let alone. 
Forms of church government, whether 
under pope, bishop, presbytery, or con- 
gregation, are matters that we can well 
leave out of our discussion. The ordi- 
nances, their meaning, method, and fre- 
quency of observance, should have no 

II 



Cbc JBible in modern Xigbt 

place whatever in the studies of the de- 
partment. To enter upon these would be 
simply to stir up strife and defeat the pur- 
pose for which we come together. But 
when we come to the great questions of 
God, revelation, sin, and immortality, we 
are still dealing with subjects upon which 
men differ and which to some extent divide 
the denominations. And yet if we study 
religion at all we must discuss these great 
vital, central problems. It is not worth 
while to study Hamlet with Hamlet left out. 
Very much depends upon the spirit in 
which we engage in this work. We come 
together as learners and should seek to be 
faithful students of the greatest topics that 
can possibly engage the human mind. The 
very largeness of the questions should pre- 
serve us from the dogmatic spirit and should 
beget in us a true charity for those who 
entertain views differing from our own. 
Like Newton we are simply gathering a 
few pebbles on the shore of the great ocean 
of truth, and it would be worse than a 
waste of time to throw these pebbles at 
each other. In view of all this we cannot 
be too careful in the use of terms that imply 
a judgment upon another, or at least may 
be readily misunderstood. 

12 



•Rlgbt Bttitu^c of minO XTowarD tbe miblc 

I am confident that you will most cor- 
dially co-operate with me in keeping all of 
our discussions upon a high plane of genuine 
courtesy and of sincere respect for each 
other's opinions, beliefs, and feelings. You 
have decided that for this year you will 
pursue a course of study about the Bible 
as preparatory to a direct study of the 
Bible next year. At each meeting there 
will be a brief review of the preceding lec- 
ture, followed by the lecture for the day. 
Opportunity will then be given for ques- 
tions and discussion, but of course all con- 
troversy will be avoided. Believing that 
increasing acquaintance with each other in 
this work will strengthen our mutual confi- 
dence, and trusting in God for guidance 
and illumination, we will look forward to an 
enjoyable and profitable season together. 



II 
Vigbt Bttitude of mtnD toward tbe mDlc 

HERE is little use in entering upon 
a course of Bible study unless there 
is a right attitude of mind. In fact, 
in any line of investigation the matter of 
paramount importance is the state of mind 

13 




XLbc :fiSible in modern Xidbt 

in which the subject is approached. It is 
not an easy matter to secure a right atti- 
tude of mind toward the Bible. We shall 
be helped in this by a careful study of 
those factors which belong to this most 
desirable state of mind : 

1. First of all, there should be open- 
mindedness toward the Bible. This is an 
attitude of receptivity toward the truth, no 
matter where it may be found. It is a 
position, if not of friendliness toward the 
Bible, at least not of hostility. 

Some specifications will make the thought 
clearer : 

I. It is an unprejudiced attitude. Prej- 
udice is a prejudgment. If one has de- 
cided beforehand what the Bible is and 
what it must teach, he cannot expect to 
profit by its study. A juror who has al- 
ready formed a fixed opinion upon a case 
is not regarded as competent to pass fairly 
upon the evidence. 

(i) Prejudice may be against the whole 
idea of special revelation. One may make 
up his mind that there is no place for any 
special inspiration or revelation and so come 
to the Bible with the mind absolutely closed 
against all the claims of the book respecting 
revelation and against all evidences in con- 

14 



IRfflbt BttituDe of fllinD ^owar5 tbc mblc 

firmation of these claims. When any one 
says that a miracle or special revelation is 
impossible, it is simply prejudging the case, 
and such an attitude of mind utterly unfits 
him to deal fairly with the Bible. 

(2) Again, prejudice may relate to the 
teachings, or the supposed teachings, of the 
Bible. One may believe in the possibility 
of special revelation and have his mind fully 
open to evidences, and yet he may have 
decided that the Bible teaches certain things 
which he believes are untrue. Or he may 
have positively decided beforehand certain 
matters upon which the Bible speaks and 
so come to its study incapable of appreci- 
ating some of its teachings because of hav- 
ing his mind closed upon the subject. For 
instance, one may believe that a miracle is 
impossible, and so when he comes to the 
record of a miracle in the Bible he at once 
rejects it without examining the evidence, 
for he has decided that no amount of evi- 
dence can establish the fact of a miracle. 
His mind is not open upon that subject. 

(3) But prejudice may take the form of 
an extravagant exaltation of the Bible. 
One may adopt a most thorough-going 
theory of verbal or mechanical inspiration. 
He may believe that every date, as we now 

15 



XLbc Mblc in modern Xfdbt 

have it, every historic statement, every 
number, is inspired. He may come to the 
Bible with such a conception as this, and 
of course his mind is closed to all critical 
questions, to all ideas of progressive revela- 
tion, to all proper estimates of the human 
element in revelation, and to many other 
vital questions. These are a few of the more 
prominent forms which prejudice takes in 
closing the mind in coming to the Bible. 

Of course no one is free from prejudice. 
A thousand influences have been at work 
upon our minds from our earliest childhood. 
It is impossible for any one of us to come to 
the Bible with a mind fully open. But 
something is gained by seeing where the 
danger especially lies and by making ear- 
nest effort to give due weight to all evi- 
dence, and to be ready to receive the truth 
wherever found. 

2. Another characteristic of open-mind- 
edness is freedom from the dogmatic spirit. 

Prejudice and dogmatism are closely re- 
lated. Prejudice bolts the door against new- 
comers and dogmatism insists that nothing 
further is needed. Prejudice is opposed to 
what lies beyond ; dogmatism is satisfied 
with what is already possessed. Prejudice 
wants no additional proof ; dogmatism de- 

i6 



IRigbt BttituDe ot (llinD (Towacd tbe JSible 

dares there is none. Dogmatism is unwar- 
ranted confidence. It asserts rather than 
proves. It is positive without adequate 
evidence. It never sees but one side of 
the question. It belongs to no particular 
school of thought. There is a dogmatism 
of unbelief as well as a dogmatism of 
faith ; a dogmatism of science as well as 
that of religion. 

This state of mind stands in the way of 
a proper approach to the Bible. The Bible 
is an appeal to the reason. It claims to 
bring to man a great body of truth of the 
highest importance. The mind that dog- 
matizes and asserts and believes without 
evidence cannot deal satisfactorily with 
such a book. The central Personage in 
the book said to his followers, *' Go ye into 
all the world, and make disciples" — make 
learners, for so the word means — " of all 
nations." A dogmatist is not a learner ; his 
mind is closed to the truth. The spirit of 
dogmatism is utterly foreign to that open- 
mindedness with which the true learner 
comes to the study of the Bible. 

II. But the second factor in the right 

attitude of mind toward the Bible may be 

expressed in the single word, expectant. 

We come to the study of every subject in 

B 17 



ZTbe fusible in moDetn Xigbt 

one of three attitudes of mind as to what 
the result will be : First, there may be en- 
tire uncertainty ; we may or we may not 
be benefited ; we may or we may not find 
helpful truth. We have no conviction or 
clear expectation as to the result. A second 
attitude is that of positive non-expectancy. 
The subject has little or no promise of good 
in it. In fact, we see no grounds whatever 
for expecting any beneficial results. 

The third is the expectant attitude. We 
approach the subject not only with an open 
mind, but believing that we shall find help- 
ful truth. I urge that this expectant atti- 
tude is the one that we should have in our 
Bible study. Evidently we must come in 
one of these three states of mind. Why 
should it be the last named ? Because of 
the position and history of the Bible. It is 
often said that we ought to come to the 
study of the Bible exactly as we do to that 
of any other book. But this is impossible. 
In fact we do not, and cannot, treat all 
other books alike. Here, for example, are 
two books, one you have never heard any- 
thing about, the other has had extended 
notice and extravagant commendations in 
all the papers. You cannot possibly ap- 
proach those two books with the same state 

i8 



IRiabt attitude of mind tTowatd tbe JSible 

of mind. You will have a feeling of ex- 
pectancy in the case of the one which 
you cannot possibly have in reference to 
the other. 

The Bible is the most remarkable book 
that has found place in human history. 
It deals with the most vital themes of hu- 
man thought and experience. No other 
book has approached it in profound influ- 
ence upon the thought and conduct of men. 
These are simple historical facts. How- 
ever they may be accounted for, they are 
universally admitted. Hundreds of thou- 
sands among the most cultured and noble 
of earth have borne cheerful and positive 
testimony to the comfort in sorrow, the 
strength in temptation, and the inspiration 
to holy living which this book has been to 
them. All this and much more being true, 
we must approach the Bible in an expectant 
state of mind. Of course, one may look 
for too much and may allow his expectancy 
to blind him in some measure to the essen- 
tial character of the book. This must be 
guarded against. I do not mean that we 
are to come to the Bible expecting to find 
all that everybody has claimed for it. Un- 
questionably, some have claimed too much 
for the Bible and have thought they have 

19 



Zhc JQiblc in fHodern Xidbt 

found in it what in reality is not there. 
And yet we must believe that a book which 
has exerted such a tremendous influence 
upon human life will abundantly repay our 
most careful study, whether we find in it 
all that others have claimed to find or not. 

III. A third factor in the right attitude of 
mind toward the Bible may be expressed 
by the word judicial. There are three fea- 
tures of the judicial mind that are of special 
value to the Bible student. These are dis- 
crimination, impartiality, and thoroughness. 
We may well spend a little time upon each 
of these. 

I. The one who would do satisfactory 
work in Bible study must be able to make 
wise discriminations. There are great dif- 
ferences in the present day value of differ- 
ent portions of the Bible. The value of 
some parts was purely local and temporary ; 
other portions were written for all time and 
for all men. All sorts of absurd teachings 
have been deduced from the Scriptures by 
giving a universal or general application to 
passages which were written for specific 
conditions and needs. The discriminating 
mind will give due consideration to histori- 
cal conditions, to the progressive element 
in revelation, and also to the essential limi- 

20 



•Rfflbt Bttttude of nrilnD ^owaro tbe 3Bible 

tations to revelation growing out of the 
existing state of human development and 
thought. 

2. But the judicial mind is also impartial. 
It is free from bias. It does not decide the 
case before hearing the evidence. A vast 
amount of Bible study has been for the 
purpose of bolstering up an opinion, a sect, 
or a party. Men have searched the Bible 
to find what they wanted rather than to 
ascertain what it teaches. This has been 
done both by the friends and by the enemies 
of the book. It has been urged that it must 
be a strange book that can be appealed to 
for the support of the teachings of nearly 
one hundred and fifty different religious 
bodies. The trouble is not so much in the 
book as in the biased and partisan attitude 
of mind with which men come to its study. 

3. Still further, the judicial mind is char- 
acterized by painstaking thoroughness. It is 
patient and persevering. A boy was asked 
what the text of the morning sermon was. 
He replied, *' I don't exactly remember, but 
it was something like this : ' Go into my 
barnyard and go to work, and if you don't 
get tired out you'll get your pay for it.* " 
The richest truths in any field of investiga- 
tion are not found by the one who is easily 

21 



Zbc Mblc in fiQoOetn Xi^bt 

tired out. In Bible study there is a special 
demand for unwearied perseverance. This 
is evident from several considerations. 

(i) The character of the subject-matter. 
The Bible deals with subjects of far-reach- 
ing import. They are the great themes of 
human thought. God, immortality, per- 
sonal responsibility, sin,forgiveness,prayer, 
miracles, prophecy, inspiration, revelation 
— these are some of the subjects dealt with. 
And these are discussed, not by one writer 
merely but by many, and these widely sep- 
arated from each other. And, further, these 
great themes are not set forth categorically 
and systematically, but are inwrought into 
symbolism, ceremonial observances, poetry, 
prophecy, parable, narrative, biography, 
and history. To deal satisfactorily with 
such themes in such a setting requires great 
patience and persevering effort. 

(2) This same need is emphasized when 
the literary character of the Bible is con- 
sidered. It is an ancient book, or, better, 
a collection of ancient books. Its poetry is 
entirely different in structure from that 
with which we are familiar. Oriental im- 
agery and figures of speech based often 
upon customs and conditions with which 
we are entirely unacquainted are found 

22 



IRidbt Bttitu^e of (Hind ^owarD tbe Mblc 

throughout the Scriptures. Nothing short 
of protracted and painstaking study can 
bring one into sympathy with the habits 
of thought and the forms of expression of 
the biblical writers. 

(3) Still one thing more must be men- 
tioned while considering this need of pa- 
tience and perseverance in our attitude 
toward the Bible : the historical factor is a 
very pronounced one. The messages of 
the prophets were primarily for the people 
of their own times and were delivered to 
meet existing conditions, and, to be under- 
stood, the people and the conditions of those 
times must in some fair degree be consid- 
ered. There is progress, a development, 
running through the Scripture narrative, 
and to appreciate this one needs to be fa- 
miliar with the unfoldings of history. More- 
over, the Israelites were not an isolated 
people. They dwelt in the center of an 
ancient civilization and through their little 
country ran the highway of mighty nations. 
Assyria, Syria, Egypt, Greece, and Rome 
all contributed something to the life and 
thought of the Jewish people. The one 
who would know the Bible thoroughly must 
know of the surrounding nations whose 
influence had much to do with the men who 

23 



Zbc MUc in fllodem Xi^bt 

wrote the Bible. The historical method 
in biblical interpretation has added immeas- 
urably to the interest and profit of scrip- 
tural study, but at the same time has greatly 
emphasized the need of judicial thorough- 
ness in our work. 

IV. One more factor in the right attitude 
of mind toward the Bible may be mentioned. 
It is the responsive attitude. All moral 
truth involves duty. No matter where it 
is found, it always comes with an appeal to 
the conscience. What I suggest here is not 
so much an attitude toward the Bible as it 
is toward moral truth. It is that state of 
mind which is ready to yield to the require- 
ments of such truth whenever and wherever 
it may be found. All truth — scientific, 
moral, religious — is learned largely by the 
practical application of it. The inductive 
method is little other than using the truth 
we have to find that which lies a little fur- 
ther on. It is this spirit I plead for in com- 
ing to the Bible. Whenever a truth is 
found, something that appeals to conscience 
and the moral judgment responds to it; 
accept it, not merely as a truth but as a 
part of your own inner life. Where the 
miner finds gold near the surface he appro- 
priates it and it supplies the means and the 

24 



Zbc Bdaential Cbatactci: ot tbe SSible 

incentive to follow the vein deeper into the 
mountain-side. 

I have now said that the attitude of the 
mind toward the Bible should be open, 
expectant, judicial, and responsive. Other 
factors might be noted, but these are the 
most important. Each one of us will fail 
in fully securing this state of mind, but 
much will be accomplished in keeping this 
ideal before us and in faithfully endeavor- 
ing to attain it. Thus seeking to approach 
the Bible, we shall not all find the same 
things nor be equally profited in our study, 
but all will come closer to the Source of all 
truth and will find helpful precepts and 
moral and spiritual impulse for the earnest 
and worthy work of life. 



Ill 
XLbc £60entfal Cbaractet ot tbe Bible 

HIS is the age of the inductive 
method in study. Time was 
when men decided beforehand 
what the Bible as a revelation from God 
must be and then forced it into harmony 
with their preconceived ideas. But now 
an entirely different method of procedure 

25 




XLbc Mblc in modern %iQbt 

is being insisted upon. We must determine 
what the Bible is, not by a priori arguments 
.but by a careful study of the book itself. 
This method may overthrow some tradi- 
tional views, but it adds immeasurably to 
the real value and power of the Bible. 

In a single lecture it will be impossible 
to go into an extended and detailed study 
of the contents of the Bible, but what I 
shall attempt to do will be to set forth its 
great outlines, its salient controlling fea- 
tures. It is evident that the essential char- 
acter of the book depends upon these rather 
than upon the less important features. 
The course of a river is determined by the 
larger view of its currents and valleys 
rather than by its bends and eddies. Two 
inquiries will naturally determine the course 
of our investigation : What does the Bible 
claim for itself ? and, Is this claim substan- 
tiated by its teachings and character } 

I. First, then, let us see what the Bible 
claims for itself. In endeavoring to do this 
it must be borne in mind that the Bible was 
not originally one book but many, and that 
it is only in comparatively recent years 
that these different books have been brought 
together into a single volume. Hence a 
complete study of the question proposed 

26 



Zbc iBeecntial Cbaractcr ot tbc 3Bible 

would call for an examination of all the 
parts and an ascertaining, if possible, of 
the claims of each of the writers. But for 
our present purpose this will be unneces- 
sary. It is a fact that at the beginning of 
the Christian era the books of the Old Tes- 
tament,substantially as we have them, were 
regarded as sacred, and all we need to do 
is to ascertain the claims made by the more 
important of these. If we turn to the 
Pentateuch — the first five books — we meet 
with frequent references like the following : 
*' And God said " (Gen. i : 29), " And the 
Lord said" (Gen. 7 : i), **And God said 
unto Abraham " (Gen. 21 : 12), '* And God 
said unto Jacob " (Gen. 35 : i), ** And the 
Lord spake unto Moses" (Exod. 25 : i), 
"And the Lord spake unto Moses and 
Aaron " (Num. 19 : i), ** Moses spake unto 
the children of Israel, according unto all 
that the Lord had given him in command- 
ment unto them" (Deut. i : 3). 

When we leave these five books and 
come to the book of Joshua the opening 
statement is, ** Now after the death of 
Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to 
pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the 
son of Nun " (Josh, i : i). All through 
the book of Judges the communications 

27 



tibe Sible in fnloDern Xigbt 

calling and directing tlie work of tiie deliv- 
erers of Israel are said to be direct from 
Jehovah. 

The prophets claimed to speak to the 
people the messages which they had re- 
ceived from the Lord, and over and over 
again they insist that God had laid a bur- 
den upon them and that they were giving 
warnings and encouragements from him. 
Jesus claimed to have a special revelation 
from the Father (John 17 : 8), and insisted 
that the Holy Spirit would be given to lead 
his followers into all truth (John 14 : 26). 
And Paul wrote, '* Every scripture inspired 
of God is also profitable for teaching, for 
reproof, for correction, for instruction which 
is in righteousness : that the man of God 
may be complete, furnished completely 
unto every good work " (2 Tim. 3 : 16, 17). 
And Peter declares, *' But men spake from 
God, being moved by the Holy Spirit" 
(2 Peter i : 21). And in the Epistle to the 
Hebrews there is a very interesting sum- 
mary of the whole matter, " God having 
of old time spoken unto the fathers in the 
prophets by divers portions and in divers 
manners, hath at the end of these days 
spoken unto us in his Son " (Heb. i : i). 
But I need not for our present purpose bring 

28 



Zbc JBeecntial Cbaracter of tbe Mblc 

forward any more of these claims. I am 
not now asking whether the Bible claims 
infallibility nor whether every writer makes 
a distinct claim to inspiration, but am sim- 
ply seeking to ascertain what the great 
central claims are of the leading biblical 
writers. It is perfectly evident from the 
quotations given — and these might be in- 
definitely increased — that these writers and 
teachers claimed to give a revelation from 
God. They believed that they had re- 
ceived from the Lord truth which was of 
vital importance to the people. We may 
say, then, that the Bible claims to furnish 
a revelation from God. Some believe that 
this claim is false, some are in doubt, and 
others accept it. If it is true it is the most 
important truth this world knows anything 
about. If it is false it is the worst false- 
hood ever perpetrated upon the race. 

II. We come now to an examination of 
the Bible in the light of this claim. It has 
been customary for writers to state at this 
point certain essential features of a revela- 
tion from God and then proceed to compel 
the Bible to conform to these supposed 
essentials. But this is manifestly not the 
proper way to proceed. Here is a book 
which claims to be a revelation from God. 

29 



^be :(Bible in moDecn Xigbt 

The first inquiry is, What are the essential 
characteristics of this book ? and as we 
ascertain these we may ask, Do these 
characteristics seem to be in harmony with 
those high claims ? 

I. The first thing which impresses the 
student of the Bible is what may be called 
the God-consciousness of its writers. As 
on a beautiful day in spring hills and val- 
leys, fields and forests all lie bathed in the 
sunshine, so all parts of the Bible are 
bathed in this sense of the divine presence. 
On that beautiful spring day there may be 
a few places where shadows fall, so there 
may be places in the Bible where this divine 
presence may seem to be wanting. But 
this consciousness of the divine is certainly 
one of the dominant characteristics of the 
Bible. It opens with the significant words, 
**In the beginning, God,'* and it closes 
with an eager, expectant, upward look, 
coupled with a gracious benediction. Its 
historical portions are the record, mainly, 
of a people who believed that they were 
under the peculiar care of Jehovah and 
that he was working out his will through 
them. Its poetry breathes a lofty spirit of 
reverence and worship, and is charged 
with a profound sense of the overshadow- 

30 



ITbe }£ddentia[ Cbatacter of tbe :BMc 

ings of the Almighty. Its prophets came 
to the people burdened with the awful 
sense of a message from Jehovah, and their 
utterances abound with expressions show- 
ing their sense of responsibility as bearers 
of such messages. The law, moral and 
ceremonial, rests upon a ** Thus saith the 
Lord," and every ministration of priest and 
Levite was calculated to direct the thought 
of the people to God. 

We are not now asking after their con- 
ception of God, but simply directing atten- 
tion to the fact that one of the leading 
characteristics of the Bible is this all-per- 
vasive recognition of the divine presence. 
This certainly is in harmony with the claim 
of revelation. If God has revealed himself 
through the history of a people and by 
means also of a special religious ceremo- 
nial, we should expect that a prominent 
feature in all this would be the conscious- 
ness and recognition of the divine per- 
sonality. God is a person, and the vital 
thing in revelation is, first of all, not the 
perception of some abstract truth, but the 
recognition of the divine personality. And 
this to a remarkable degree characterized 
the biblical writers. 

2. Another characteristic of the Bible is 

31 



tlbe JBiblc in flloDecn %iQbt 

the nature of the themes with which it 
chiefly deals. I do not for a moment forget 
that there are wearisome details in many 
parts of the Bible, particularly in the his- 
torical books of the Old Testament, and 
that, not infrequently, matters are dealt 
with which appear to have no value for us 
and which seem trifling and unimportant. 
And yet, after all is said that can be said 
at this point, it still remains true that the 
Bible is a book of great subjects. It has to 
do with the most important themes that 
can possibly engage human thought and 
that relate intimately to the most vital of 
human needs. 

It is no difficult task for a Bible student 
to state at once what these dominant Bible 
themes are : God, duty, judgment, mercy, 
brotherhood, death, future life, sin, salva- 
tion — these are the great subjects that en- 
gaged the thought of those who wrote the 
Bible. 

It is evident that here again there is har- 
mony with the claims of the Bible to be a 
revelation from God. Not all books that 
discuss great themes are a revelation from 
God, but it is certain that no book can be 
such a revelation that does not deal mainly 
with such themes. The puerility of many 

32 



ZTbe £00ential Gbaracter of tbe 3ISible 

professed revelations and spiritual commu- 
nications is at once a refutation of their 
claims. The Bible certainly deals with 
themes worthy of a revelation from God, 
and further, it may be well to note here 
that these themes are the ones concerning 
which man seems to be unable, of himself, 
to reach any satisfactory conclusion, but 
concerning which the truth is of very great 
practical value. 

Take, for example, the question of God. 
Perhaps nothing has had more to do in the 
formation of character and in molding so- 
ciety than the prevailing views of God. 
At the same time, where the Bible has not 
been accepted hopeless contradiction and 
confusion have prevailed. 

Science and enlightenment, aside from 
revelation, do not seem to relieve the situa- 
tion materially, and we have cultivated 
people advocating pantheism, theosophy, 
atheism, and agnosticism. If there is one 
fact that is made clear by all this, it is that 
man needs a revelation in reference to the 
person and character of Deity. 

The same is true in relation to all the 

other great themes with which the Bible 

deals. They have great practical value, 

and at the same time they are matters con- 

C 33 



Zbc JSible in modem %igbt 

cerning which man, unaided by revelation, 
seems to be in hopeless uncertainty and 
confusion. 

3. Another feature of the Bible is very 
noticeable : there is progress or develop- 
ment in its teachings. We do not find the 
same fullness and clearness in the earlier 
books that we do in the later. Let us take 
the idea of God and trace it in the most 
general way. In Gen. i : i is the first great 
thought, that of Creator. He is the Source 
and Sustainer of all things. Exod. 3 : 14 
presents him as self-existent, ** I am that I 
am.'* The margin in the Revised version 
reads, '* I am, because I am.'* Here is an 
added thought. It may have been in the 
minds of others before this, but it is here 
given a new emphasis. Now turn to Deut. 
6 : 4, ** The Lord our God is one Lord." 
The whole ancient world believed in a plu- 
rality of deities, and Israel was in constant 
danger of yielding to this seductive influ- 
ence. They were being taught that God 
was one and that besides him there was no 
other God. But this truth took root slowly, 
and not till after the Babylonian captivity 
do we find it fully established. 

There was a vital and far-reaching edu- 
cative process going on during the history 

34 



Zbc £d6ential Cbaractet ot the Sible 

of ancient Israel. It was an education into 
a fuller conception of God. But it was not 
till New Testament times that we find the 
crowning conception stated in its fullness 
(Matt. 6 : 9), "When ye pray say, Our 
Father/' and then as a climax, a summing 
up of all (i John 4 : 8), " God is love." 

This same progressive aspect is found in 
the matter of worship. In the earlier days 
the worship abounded in visible and tangi- 
ble forms and observances — altars, sacri- 
fices, and ceremonial cleansings. Outside 
of Israel idolatry was well-nigh universal 
and the people of Israel were constantly 
lapsing into this sin. But progress was 
being made in spiritual perception, and 
after the return from the captivity there 
was no more yielding to idolatrous prac- 
tices. At this time the synagogue worship 
among the scattered Israelites arose, and 
with this there came in a much more simple 
and spiritual service. In the fullness of 
time Christ came, the fulfillment of the old 
ceremonial forms of worship, and an- 
nounced, ** God is a Spirit, and they that 
worship him, must worship him in spirit 
and in truth." The fires went out on Is- 
rael's altars, never to be rekindled, and 
Christianity, free from the bondage of 

35 



JLbc ^Biblc in fllodern Xidbt 

form, went forth to fill the world with the 
worship that springs out of truth and life. 

A similar progress is seen in the growth 
of moral perceptions. The earlier period 
does not furnish us a full and complete 
moral code. The Ten Commandments are 
a remarkable statement of moral obligation, 
and yet they come very far short of the 
teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. 

In the matter of divorce Jesus very plainly 
says, "Moses, because of the hardness of 
your hearts, suffered you to put away your 
wives.** Here is a recognition of a partial 
and imperfect state of things to be super- 
seded by a better principle later on. 

But we need not follow further this pro- 
gressive aspect of biblical teachings. It is 
evident that this is one of the most signifi- 
cant features of the Scriptures. It remains 
to inquire how this comports with the claim 
of divine revelation. 

It has been insisted that if God, an all- 
wise being, were going to make a revela- 
tion he would make a perfect and complete 
revelation at once ; that instead of waiting 
hundreds of years to reveal his fatherhood 
and his character of love, he would have 
revealed these all-important features at 
first ; and that instead of taking the people 

36 



Zbc Bescntial Cbaractec ot tbc JBible 

through a long period of bloody and offen- 
sive sacrifices, he would have revealed at 
the outset the spiritual character of his 
service and worship. 

Some, influenced by this argument, have 
undertaken to show that there is no pro- 
gressive revelation and that every part of 
the Bible is equally perfect and complete. 
But this attempt is utterly futile and mis- 
leading. On the other hand, a careful 
study of the subject shows that this pro- 
gressive feature in biblical teaching is not 
only not opposed to the idea of revelation, 
but is strongly confirmatory of it. It is 
manifest that God in making a revelation is 
limited by the conditions of those to whom 
the revelation is to be made. The teacher 
in imparting truth is always limited by the 
state of mind of the pupil. Missionaries in 
going to pagan peoples always labor under 
great difficulty in finding terms and mental 
perceptions which enable them to convey 
Christian ideas. It is a progressive work. 
First the reception of simple truths in a 
crude way, and then a gradual coming up 
to a capacity for larger things. 

We can readily see how God, in coming 
to man with the great truths of a spiritual 
revelation and taking man in an undevel- 

37 



Zbc Mblc in fiHodetn %iQbt 

oped condition, must adjust the truth to 
imperfect forms of speech and unspiritual 
habits of thought. If it is conceivable that 
God could have given at the outset a per- 
fected revelation, what good would it have 
done ? It would have been like giving the 
calculus to a pupil in the grades. Another 
question : Where was there any vehicle 
through which to make such a revelation ? 
Human language is the measure of the de- 
velopment and grasp of human thought. 
So that in making a revelation, language as 
it is must be used ; some unknown heav- 
enly tongue could not be employed. Hence 
it is evident that a revelation through the 
channel of imperfect human speech must 
be partial and progressive. 

Thus it is apparent that this progressive 
feature of biblical teaching becomes a strong 
proof of the truth of the claim of the Bible 
that it is a divine revelation. I have not 
touched upon the question of the errancy 
of Scripture. It is urged by some that one 
important feature of the Bible is its mis- 
takes. It is claimed that it contains errors 
in history, in science, and in moral teach- 
ings, and that such being the case it cannot 
possibly be a revelation from God. And 
yet these same persons will insist that na- 

38 



Composition ot the JBiblc 

ture with all its unsightliness, disease, and 
imperfection is a revelation of God. But 
it seems to me that a proper allowance for 
the essential limitations of God in making 
a revelation relieves the Bible very largely 
from this charge of errancy. We must 
read every part of it in the light of the day 
in which it was written, and must judge it 
as a whole in the light of its perfected reve- 
lation in the person of Jesus Christ and the 
teachings of Christianity. When this is 
done, we do not say that it contains a reve- 
lation any more than we do that nature 
contains a revelation, but we see that it is 
a revelation from God, beginning with man 
far back in the kindergarten of the race and 
leading him, step by step, in an enlarging 
apprehension of the truth up to the full 
revelation in Jesus Christ. 



IV 

Composition ot tbe 3Bible 

HE Bible is a composite book. It 
is made up of many parts. The 
word Bible is from the Greek word 
hiblia^ which is the plural of biblios, and 
this in form is the diminutive of biblos, 

39 




tibe Mblc in moDern Xidbt 

so that the word really means ''the little 
books.*' This title in the Greek form came 
into use to designate the entire collection 
of sacred books as found in the Old and 
New Testaments in the fifth century of the 
Christian era. Our English form Bible is, 
of course, of comparatively recent date. 
At the time of Christ the books of the Old 
Testament had been brought together, but 
as printing was unknown were not bound 
in a single volume as we have them. They 
were, however, frequently included under 
a single name, **The Scriptures," or **The 
Writings'* (Matt. 21 : 42 ; Gal. 3 : 22 ; 2 
Tim. 3 : 15). 

In studying the composition of the Bible 
there are four topics which should receive 
our special attention : I. The Divisions of 
the Bible. II. Questions of Authorship. 
III. The Formation of the Canon. IV. The 
Unity of the Bible. We will give careful 
attention to each of these. 

I. The Divisions of the Bible. The di- 
visions as found in our modern Bibles 
shall first claim our consideration. A few 
Words may be said at the outset respecting 
the division into chapters and verses. It 
is well understood that these were not 
made by the biblical writers, but were 

40 



Composition ot tbe JBiblc 

adopted later to aid in worship and to 
facilitate study. At an early date the 
Pentateuch was divided into sections, with 
one section for public reading on each 
Sabbath of the year, and to some extent 
it is probable there were divisions of the 
prophets for the same purpose. And fol- 
lowing this custom the Christians soon 
made divisions of the New Testament. 
But the work of dividing the whole Bible 
into chapters substantially as we have 
them is usually ascribed to Cardinal Hugh 
of St. Cher, who with his colaborers pre- 
pared a concordance of the Latin Vulgate 
about A. D. 1240. His work, however, was 
undoubtedly based very largely on divi- 
sions which had long been recognized. 

The separation into verses was also in 
some degree a growth. The word verse is 
from the Latin verto, to turn, and was 
early employed to note the metrical divi- 
sions in poetry. It is evident that the 
Psalms were naturally divided into verses 
for the purposes of worship. But the first 
work of dividing printed Bibles into chap- 
ters and verses and numbering them is 
ascribed to Robert Stephens, a learned 
printer, who issued a Bible of this character 
printed in Latin in 155 1. 

, 41 



Zbc Mblc in cmodern Xi^bt 

While this division into chapters and 
verses has been of great service it has also 
had its drawbacks. The work was imper- 
fectly done and separations were often 
made which have led to an obscuring of 
the meaning. Note, for example, the close 
connection between Acts 7 : 60 and 8:1; 

1 Cor. 10 : 33 and 11 : i. There are very 
many other cases in which the break be- 
tween chapters is as marked as in these 
instances. The division into verses is often 
very unfortunate, making separations where 
there should be the closest connection. 
Only a few cases need be cited to show 
this : Ps. 96 : 12, 13 ; 103 : 17, 18 ; Eph. 

2 : 4, 5. While the Revised version re- 
tains the old notation of verses, it has the 
much more satisfactory plan of making no 
breaks in the reading, except when the 
paragraphs call for it. 

But leaving the question of chapters and 
verses, we may go to the larger and more 
significant divisions. 

Here we find the Bible as a whole 
divided into two parts, the Old and the 
New Testament. Each of these again is 
divided into books, the Old Testament 
having thirty-nine and the New twenty- 
seven, making a total of sixty-six. Then 

42 



CompoBition ot tbe Mblc 

these books, in accordance with their form 
and subject-matter, are also readily sepa- 
rated into different groups. In the Old 
Testament are found seventeen historical 
books, five poetical, and seventeen pro- 
phetical ; while in the New Testament are 
five historical, twenty-one epistolary, and 
one prophetical. All this is readily shown 
by a simple diagram : 



BIBLE 



' Genesis. Exodus, 
Leviticus, Numbers, 
Deuteronomy, Joshua, 
Historical .. • Judges, Ruth, i and 2 
Samuel, i and 2 Kings, 
I and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, 

, Nehemiah, Esther. 

Old ( Job, Psalms, Proverbs, 

Testament J Poetical.... -| Ecclesiastes, 

( Song of Solomon. 

{Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
Lamentations, 
Ezekiei, Daniel. 

. Prophetical \ f Hosea, Joel, 

Amos, Obadiah, 
Jonah, Micah, 
Minor -{ Nahum, Habak- 
kuk, Zephaniah, 
Haggai, Zech- 
.ariah, Malachi. 



New 
Testament 



Historical .. / Matthew. Mark. Luke, 
\ John, Acts. 



Epistolary.. 



Romans, i and 2 
Corinthians, Galatians. 
Ephesians, Philippians, 
Colossians. i and 2 
Thessalonians. i and 2 
Timothy. Titus. 
Philemon, Hebrews, 
James, i and 2 Peter, 
. I, 2, and 3 John, Jude, 



Prophetical ■{ Revelation. 

43 



XTbe JBtbIc in flQot)ctn Xigbt 

Our divisions of the Old Testament are 
not the same as those adopted by the Jews 
at the time of Christ. They had three 
general divisions : The Law, the Prophets, 
and the Hagiographa, or Sacred Writings, 
as the word means. This three-fold divi- 
sion is recognized in the New Testament 
writings as may be seen by reference to 
Matt. 11:13; 22 : 40 ; Luke 24 : 44. In 
this last reference the word ** psalms" 
undoubtedly stands for the Hagiographa. 
The following diagram shows the Jewish 

divisions of the Old Testament. 



OLD 
TESTAMENT 



Ti-vDAu «.. 1 Ax\t i Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 
lORAH. or LAW I Numbers. Deuteronomy. 

{Joshua, Judges. 
I and 2 Samuel, 
I and 2 Kings. 



Nabiim. or 

Prophets " 



Later 



(Isaiah. 
Majors Jeremiah. 
(Ezelciel. 



Hosea. Joel, 

Amos, Oba- 

diah, Jonah, 

Micah, 

Nahum, 

Habal<I{u1<, 

Zephaniah, 

Haggai, 

Zechariah. 

Malachi. 



Minor 



Hagiographa, 
L Holy Writings 



44 



' (a) Psalms, Proverbs. Job. 

(b) Song of Solomon, Ruth. 
Lamentations. Ecclesi- 
astes. Esther. 

(c) Daniel. Ezra. Nehemiah. 
I and 3 Chronicles. 



Compodition of tbc Mble 

It is interesting to note that the order of 
the books is different from that found in 
our Bible to-day. Daniel and i and 2 
Chronicles especially strike us as being out 
of place. And we wonder why Joshua 
and Judges and the books of Samuel and 
the Kings should be classed among the 
prophets. These questions are not of vital 
importance, and open up a field of discus- 
sion too extensive for our present consid- 
eration. Another matter that should be 
noted at this point is that the order of the 
books as found in the Bible, is not chro- 
nological. For example, Hosea prophesied 
nearly a hundred years before Isaiah, and 
nearly two hundred before Ezekiel, and yet 
the book of Hosea is placed after these 
other prophets. Joel was at least two hun- 
dred and fifty years before Ezra, and yet 
Ezra is placed among the earlier books of 
the Bible and Joel among the later. 

In the New Testament PauPs letters to 
the Thessalonian church were his first in 
time, but in the order of arrangement they 
are placed among the last. There are many 
other points of interest relating to the titles 
of the books, the former joining of several 
books under a single title, and the like, but 
these we will omit and go on to consider. 

45 



^be Mblc in modern Xidbt 

II. The Questions of Authorship. Who 
wrote the books of the Bible ? At first 
thought this seems to be a question of great 
importance. We attach much significance 
to the names of the authors of the books 
we read. And yet as we think upon this, 
we see that it is not the author's name 
which gives value to the book, but the 
matter which the book contains. Com- 
paratively few of the books of the Bible 
have the author's name attached, and in a 
number of instances it is utterly impossible 
to ascertain who the writer was. But this 
in no way detracts from the value of the 
book. The book in such a case stands en- 
tirely upon its own merits and borrows 
nothing from the name of its author. An- 
cient tradition has come down to us naming 
an author for each book of the Bible. 
Modern critical research, however, has in 
some instances made it clear that the book 
could not have been written by the one 
named by tradition. Take, as an example, 
the books of Samuel. Tradition says that 
they were written by Samuel himself. But 
his death is recorded in i Sam. 25 : i ; and 
the reference in i Sam. 27 : 6, 7, shows that 
the book was written some time after the 
division of the kingdom. Of course it is alto- 

46 



Compo0ition ot tbe 3Bible 

gether possible that Samuel left written rec- 
ords which furnished the basis of the most of 
I Samuel, but a later hand must have put 
the books into their permanent form. 

It is not my thought to enter into any 
extended consideration of the questions of 
modern criticism respecting the authorship 
of the books of the Bible. The Old Tes- 
tament, especially, has been for many years 
the field of investigation and controversy. 
Many questions are yet unsettled. The 
critics are unable to agree among them- 
selves on many points. There is, in some 
quarters, a reaction at the present time 
against the extreme radical views of a few 
years ago. It seems certain that while 
many traditional views will be given up or 
modified, the integrity of the Scriptures 
will remain unimpaired by the work of 
modern scholars. It matters little whether 
Moses was the author of the entire Penta- 
teuch, or whether, as seems to be the case, 
he made use of existing documents. And 
if some of the psalms popularly supposed 
to have been written by David are found 
to have been written by a later hand there 
will be no loss, but from their new settings 
there may be a real gain. 

But there is another aspect of this ques- 
47 



Zbc :Bif>lc in fDodecn Xigbt 

tion of authorship which should receive at- 
tention. I have in mind the number of 
writers and their variety. The New Testa- 
ment was written by nine different persons. 
On account of the composite character of 
some of the Old Testament books, it is im- 
possible to fix upon any exact number of 
writers, but there were somewhere about 
thirty. And these writers represent all 
classes from the learned and thoroughly 
cultured to the untrained and those in the 
humble walks of life. No other book ever 
grouped the writings of such a diversity of 
authors and extending over such a long 
period of time. When we come to the 
study of the manuscripts and monuments, 
other matters of interest bearing upon the 
languages used and the dates of the writ- 
ings will receive attention. 

III. We now pass to the consideration of 
the Formation of the Canon. The word 
canon by its derivation means a reed, a 
cane, and so a measuring rod, a standard. 
And when applied to the Scriptures it refers 
to those books which are accepted as sacred, 
or in other words those which are a stand- 
ard for doctrine and practice. Many other 
religious books, aside from those which are 
found in our Bible, have been written. 

48 



Compo0ition of tbe Mblc 

These are in some instances referred to by 
the biblical writers. For example, in Num. 
21 : 14, " The Book of the Wars of the 
Lord " is mentioned. In 2 Sam. i ; 18 allu- 
sion is made to the '* Book of Jasher." i 
Kings 14 : 19, 29 speaks of two books, one 
**The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel," 
and the other " The Chronicles of the 
Kings of Judah." In Jude 14, 15 is found 
a quotation from the book of Enoch. Then 
there are the well-known fourteen books 
of the Apocrypha. There were also the 
** Epistle of Barnabas," ** Shepherd of 
Hermas," ** Epistle of Clement," and 
** Apocalypse of Peter," and other writ- 
ings that were more or less valuable be- 
cause of their religious teachings. The 
formation of the canon refers to that pro- 
cess by which a separation was made of 
the different religious books and part of 
them brought together and recognized as 
the inspired revelation of God, while others 
were rejected from the list. At first thought 
this seems to be a matter of absolutely 
vital importance. How do we know that 
there may not have been inspired books 
left out } And further, and possibly of 
still more importance, how do we know 
that there may not be some included that 
D 49 



XLbc JBibic in fHlo^etn Xigbt 

ought to have been rejected ? But this 
selective process was not an arbitrary act 
by some man, or some body of men, as has 
sometimes been claimed. The work of 
councils in the matter was rather confirm- 
atory than determinative. The formation 
of the canon was a growth. Let us first 
glance at the Old Testament. Among the 
earlier references to a book may be noted. 
Gen. 5:1,** The book of the generations 
of Adam." Exod. 17 : 14, Moses is com- 
manded to write for a memorial in a book. 
Deut. 29 ; 21 shows an enlarged idea of the 
book, now called ** The Book of the Law.'* 
The disposition made of this book is found 
in Deut. 31 : 2$, 26. It is placed not in but 
by the Ark of the Covenant, and here 
evidently is where it was found years after- 
ward by Hilkiah the priest in the reign of 
Josiah, following a period of apostasy (2 
Kings 22 : 8). 

Here, then, was the beginning of the 
formation of the Old Testament canon in 
this book of the law. Just how much it 
contained we do not know, but probably 
the most of what was known during later 
time as ** The Law.** 

The prophets early began their work, 
and it would seem that their messages 

50 



Composition ot tbe Miblc 

were at once written down (i Sam. lo : 
25). Schools of the prophets were es- 
tablished at a very early date. Samuel is 
usually credited with the inauguration of 
this movement (i Sam. 10 : 5). The com- 
mon term applied a little later to these 
groups or schools was ** The Sons of the 
Prophets *' (2 Kings 2 : 3, 5). This pas- 
sage would indicate that there was a school 
at Bethel and also one at Jericho. Un- 
doubtedly these schools of the prophets 
preserved with great care the writings and 
utterances of the prophets. And so there 
grew up the second great division of the 
Old Testament, ** The Prophets.*' 

The Psalms and Wisdom literature were 
next in order. Upon the return from the 
Babylonian captivity the people entered 
upon a new era of religious life. Idolatry 
had been left forever behind. The more 
devout and earnest spirits had returned, 
and one of their first works was to bring 
together under Ezra and what is known as 
the Great Synagogue, those writings which 
had come to be recognized as an expression 
of the will of Jehovah. Such is the Jewish 
tradition respecting the work of Ezra and 
the Great Synagogue. It is altogether 
probable, while some re-editing and addi- 

51 



tLbc :BlUc in illboDetn !ILiabt 

tions may have been made after this period, 
that this tradition is essentially correct. 

When we come to the New Testament 
we find a somewhat similar process of 
growth. The tradition that the Apostle 
John collected the books of the New Tes- 
tament is without any historic foundation. 
There is evidence, however, that Paul's 
writings, at least, were regarded as having 
a place alongside of the sacred writings in 
apostolic times (2 Peter 3:15, 16). There 
is abundant evidence that by the middle 
of the third century the New Testament 
books, substantially as we have them, 
were recognized by the churches. 

Theophilus of Antioch, who lived about 
A. D. 170, speaks of the Law, the Prophets, 
and the Gospels as alike divinely inspired. 
Irenaeus, who was a little earlier, refers to 
the New Testament writings as the Holy 
Scriptures. During this early period the 
church Fathers make many quotations from 
the Gospels and Epistles, showing that 
they had the same books which we have. 
In fact, prominent men began making lists 
of the books to be received by the churches. 
Cyril of Jerusalem made a list of New 
Testament books about 340 A. D. corre- 
sponding with our own except that he 

52 



Compo0ition of tbe JBiblc 

omitted Revelation. Athanasius about 
twenty years later gave a catalogue cor- 
responding exactly to our New Testament 
books. Epiphanius in the West about the 
same time gave the same list except the 
Epistle to the Hebrews. In A. D. 397 the 
third General Council of Carthage took up 
the question and included both Hebrews 
and Revelation and gave the list of the 
New Testament books as we have them. 
From all this it would seem that the early 
churches preserved the letters written to 
them by the apostles and gathered the 
Gospels as they were written, and, under 
the guidance of the Spirit of God, used 
these writings in their services and pre- 
served them in times of persecution, and 
that all these church Fathers and councils 
did was to approve and recognize what was 
already an accomplished fact among the 
Christian communities. 

IV. It remains now to speak of the Unity 
of the Bible. Here is a book made up, as 
we have seen, of many smaller books from 
the pens of many authors written under 
very diverse circumstances and covering a 
period of nearly two thousand years. It 
comprises a remarkably varied literature — 
prose and poetry, history and prophecy, pre- 

53 



(Tbe :iBible in /n^odem %\Qbt 

cepts, doctrines, parables, highly wrought 
figures, categorical arguments, biographies, 
prayers, sermons, letters, in fact almost 
every form of literary composition. More 
than this, it was written in different lan- 
guages, in Hebrew and Greek, some por- 
tions in Chaldee, and possibly in Aramaic. 
And yet for some reason these remarkably 
diverse writings have been brought together 
and bound in a single volume. As we 
have seen, individual councils and churches 
have had to do with the formation of the 
canon, but back of these there was a com- 
ing together dependent in some measure 
upon the affinity of these books for each 
other. A study of these sacred writings as 
we find them in a single volume discloses a 
remarkable unity. 

This unity is seen in several important 
particulars which I will briefly note. 

I. There is unity, first of all, in the 
subject-matter. The writers are all deal- 
ing with essentially the same great themes. 
In some instances the light is much clearer 
than in others, but the same truths run 
through all. The holiness, majesty, and 
mercy of God ; the sinfulness, responsi- 
bility, and salvability of man ; the culpa- 
bility, ill-desert, and hatefulness of sin. 

54 



Composition of tbe Xiblc 

These great themes inwrought into history, 
biography, ceremonial, and prophecy bind 
the books of the Bible together in indisso- 
luble bonds. 

2. Another factor in this unity may be 
termed the supplementary character of the 
different parts of the Bible. Truth is large 
and many-sided and no one mind grasps it 
all. In fact, one of the most common 
sources of error is the partial and one-sided 
view of things to which humanity is given. 
Divine revelation, in order to have any- 
thing like completeness, must use many 
minds. Paul was needed to set in clear 
and imperishable light the great truth of 
salvation by faith, but James is also needed 
to prevent the overlooking of the fact that 
faith without works is dead. Each of the 
four Gospel writers occupies a different 
point of view. Matthew magnifies the king- 
ship of Jesus. Mark sees him especially 
as the servant or worker. Luke presents 
him as the Son of man and John as the 
Son of God. Each is needed to supple- 
ment the others and complete the whole. 
Among the prophets we have the stern 
Elijah, the weeping Jeremiah, and the tri- 
umphant Isaiah. The variety among the 
scriptural writers simply furnishes a more 

55 



Zbc Miblc in Modern %iQbt 

complete view of the truth as their varied 
productions are brought together. 

3. This unity is seen in a most striking 
way when we consider the development 
or growth of revelation. Two or three 
illustrations or examples of this must suf- 
fice, (i) We may look first at the prog- 
ress in the revelation respecting man's 
approach to God. The early Mosaic ritual 
was simply a kindergarten process. There 
were first the inspiring scenes at Sinai 
which filled the people with a sense of 
awe and reverence. Then there was the 
tabernacle service. Note the approach : 
first the great altar of sacrifice, symbolic 
of sin and its consequences ; then the laver 
for washing — man must be cleansed ; next 
the holy place, with its lamps and table of 
showbread, speaking of light and suste- 
nance from God ; the altar of incense, tell- 
ing of the beauty of prayer. And so these 
forms, which appear to us crude and in 
some respects repellent, were full of in- 
struction during the childhood period of 
revelation. Then the prophets came with 
their messages, teachers sent from God to 
preserve the people from mere ceremonial- 
ism, and then later the fullness of the 
truth came in New Testament times and 

56 



Compo6ition of tbe Xiblc 

the true spiritual worship supplanted and 
fulfilled the old. 

(2) Closely related to this was the growth 
of the Messianic idea. The look of the 
biblical writers was ever a forward one. 
Their golden age did not lie in the past but 
was always ahead. At first there were but 
the dim glimmerings of a coming light. 
*'The seed of the woman shall bruise the 
serpent's head.** Then a promise to Noah 
and later more fully to Abraham, '* In thy 
seed shall all the nations of the earth be 
blessed." Later, Moses spoke of the com- 
ing prophet, and then the prophets began 
to have ever increasingly clear visions of 
the coming of a glorious person until the 
Jews were filled with an eager expectancy 
and other peoples had come to share this 
same longing and confidence. 
• The Christ came and the New Testa- 
ment is the record of a most remarkable 
fulfillment of what was found all through 
the Old Testament both in its ritual and 
in its prophecies. 

^ (3) There is this same progress of thought 
respecting man. There is a gradual emer- 
gence of the individual in his worth, possi- 
bilities, and destiny. At the same time 
there is a gradual bringing out of the great 

57 



tTbe :B\\)Ic in /H^odern Xigbt 

truth of a comprehensive brotherhood. The 
opening and closing scenes of the Bible are 
wonderfully suggestive of the unity which 
marks the whole. 

At the first there is a garden, a picture of 
primal purity. Heaven lay all around the 
dwellers in that Eden of supernal beauty. 
Then came sin and separation from God 
and the centuries of struggle and suffering. 
At last a heavenly song was heard, *' Peace 
on earth, good will toward men." And 
across centuries of conflict and increasing 
light the seer at last in raptured vision saw a 
golden city where there was no more death, 
neither sorrow nor crying nor any more 
pain ; a city symbolic of perfected society, 
character tested and purified and heaven and 
earth again united, and then the curtain falls 
upon this marvelous book of revelation. 



(nanudctipt0 and ZTranBlatfone 

S is well known, the art of printing 
is of comparatively recent date. 
The first portion of the Bible printed 

was the Psalms, in 1477. Ten years later 

the entire Bible appeared. 

58 




Abanudcriptd and (Tcandlatiottd 

How were the Scriptures transmitted be- 
fore that date ? And what assurance have 
we that the text, as we have it, agrees with 
that which was written by the authors 
themselves ? It is one thousand eight hun- 
dred and fifty years since Paul wrote, and 
it has been about two thousand three hun- 
dred and fifty years since the work of Ezra 
the Scribe. These are long periods, and 
writing was done upon perishable material 
and so far as known not a trace of the 
original manuscripts of the biblical writers 
is in existence. In fact, as we shall see, 
the oldest extant manuscripts are far re- 
moved from the original writers. 

The records state that the Ten Command- 
ments were written upon stone. We know 
that among other peoples the earliest writ- 
ings were upon stone and clay tablets. 
The evidences of this are such well-known 
instances as the Egyptian inscriptions, the 
clay tablets of Babylon, and the Moabite 
and Rosetta Stones. 

Papyrus, a kind of paper made from the 
bark of a reed found in the marshy regions 
of the Nile, came early into use. Then as 
the supply of papyrus began to fail, parch- 
ment made from the skins of animals was 
employed, ^t first both the papyrus and 

59 



Zbc Mblc in Modern %iQbt 

the parchment were made into long strips 
and rolled up for use, but later the book 
form was adopted. All ancient manuscripts 
of the Scriptures now extant, are in this 
latter form. 

In the ninth century of our era, a coarse 
paper was made from rags, and in the 
twelfth century linen paper came into use. 

In our present study we shall take up 
four topics for our consideration. I. The 
Making of Manuscripts. II. Existing Manu- 
scripts. III. Important Ancient Translations. 
IV. The Reliability of our Present Text. 

I. Making of Manuscripts. There were 
two causes which led to the multiplying of 
copies of the sacred writings. The neces- 
sity of replacing copies which were wear- 
ing out, and the demand of individuals and 
synagogues and churches for copies for 
their own use. At first there seems to 
have been but a single copy of the Book of 
the Law preserved by the side of the Ark, 
and probably, later, other religious writings 
were similarly guarded. During this time 
it is likely that no copying was done ex- 
cept such as was necessary to replace worn- 
out manuscripts. But with the captivity 
and the rise of synagogue worship there 
arose a demand for a multiplication of copies, 

60 



/Ibanu6criptd anD ^ranslationa 

so that the different synagogues could be 
supplied. Then wealthy individuals began 
procuring copies for their own use. With 
this increasing demand the Scribes com- 
menced their work, first as copyists, and 
then as students and expounders of the 
Scriptures. 

There grew up a body of most exacting 
rules for the government of those who 
copied the sacred writings. The following 
are a few of them : 

The copy must be made from none but 
an approved manuscript. The parchment 
must be made from the skin of a clean ani- 
mal and prepared for the express purpose 
by a Jew. The entire roll must be ruled 
with regular lines, and if so many as three 
words were written without a line, the en- 
tire manuscript was rejected. None but a 
specially prescribed black ink could be used. 
The copyist must never trust to memory,* 
he must look at the original before writing 
each word, and must pronounce it aloud. As 
often as the name of God occurred, he must 
purify himself and wash his whole body. 

'* The lack or redundance of a single 
letter, the writing of prose as verse or 
verse as prose or two letters touching each 
other, spoiled a manuscript." When a 

6i 



Zbc :Bib\c in nQodern Xi0bt 

copy was completed it was examined and 
corrected within thirty days, and approved 
or rejected. 

Such were some of the rules adopted to 
prevent error in the transcribing of the 
books of the Old Testament. There arose 
very early through the widespread mul- 
tiplication of churches, a great demand for 
copies of the New Testament writings. It 
is probable that many scribes, converted to 
Christianity, found ready employment in 
copying the new writings. At a very early 
date monasticism arose, and no small part 
of the work done by those old-time monks, 
was that of copying the Scriptures, particu- 
larly the New Testament. While there 
seems to have been no severe rules like 
those just mentioned to control these Chris- 
tian copyists, still evidence is abundant that 
they exercised the utmost care. 

II. Existing Manuscripts. The sacred 
Scriptures never seem to have been written 
to any extent upon anything but perishable 
material. Aside from the Ten Command- 
ments, there is no intimation that any por- 
tion of the Bible was engraved upon stone. 
Had the writers employed clay tablets and 
cylinders like those found in the library of 
ancient Nineveh, we might to-day have the 

62 



Abanuacriptd and ^ranelationd 

very writings of the prophets and apostles. 
But as we have seen, they used papyrus 
and parchment, and as a consequence the 
original manuscripts long since perished, 
and we have simply the copies of copies. 

When we take into account the nature of 
the material used, and also the fact that 
during repeated persecutions, direct and 
persistent efforts were made to destroy 
completely all of the sacred writings of 
Jews and Christians, it is remarkable that 
so many old manuscripts have been pre- 
served. There are over two thousand well- 
known Hebrew manuscripts of the Old 
Testament, but many of these are only 
fragments, and the oldest are not earlier 
than the tenth century of the Christian 
era. In fact the very oldest Old Testa- 
ment Hebrew manuscript bears date A. D. 
916. It was found in the Crimea by a 
noted scholar, A. Firkowitch, and is now in 
the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg. 
This is a manuscript of the prophets only. 
The oldest manuscript of the entire Old 
Testament is dated A. D. loio. The Codex 
Laudianus in the Oxford Library is from 
the eleventh century. 

When we turn to the New Testament we 
find manuscripts of a much earlier date. 

63 



Zbc 3BibIe in (lloOetn Xigbt 

There are two manuscripts of great value 
of the fourth century, of which special men- 
tion will be made later, ten of the fifth, 
twenty-four of the sixth, and in all from the 
period before printing came into use, over 
three thousand. The earlier New Testa- 
ment manuscripts were written in Greek. 
The very earliest were written in large 
square capital letters and are called uncials, 
from the word meaning an inch, referring 
to the size of the letter. A little later a 
smaller running hand was adopted and the 
manuscripts written in that are known as 
cursives. 

The two oldest and most valuable Greek 
manuscripts are the Codex Vaticanus and 
the Codex Sinaiticus, one named from the 
place where it is kept, the Vatican, and the 
other from the place where it was found, 
Mt. Sinai. It is not known how or when 
the Codex Vaticanus was brought to the 
famous Vatican Library. It is probably of 
Alexandrine origin, although this is not at 
all certain. But all scholars are agreed that 
it is a very ancient document. Tregelles 
believes it may have been in existence as 
early as A. D. 325, and Scrivener thinks 
that it is probably the oldest vellum manu- 
script in existence, while Westcott and 

64 



A^anu0criptd and ITranBlation^ 

Hort are disposed to give it the first place. 
This manuscript is bound in red morocco 
and its leaves are a thin delicate vellum 
or parchment of ten and a half by ten 
inches. It contains nearly all of the New 
Testament. Until recent years it was 
guarded with such extreme care that schol- 
ars were able to gain no satisfactory ac- 
cess to it. But Pope Leo XIII. pursued 
a very different course from that of his pred- 
ecessors, and permitted a phototype fac- 
simile to be made, and now these may be 
found in many of the libraries of Europe 
and America. The pope himself presented 
a magnificent copy to the directors of the 
World's Fair in Chicago, and it was on ex- 
hibition there. 

The story of the finding and obtaining of 
the Codex Sinaiticus reads almost like a 
romance. The famous German scholar, 
Tischendorf, in his search for ancient manu- 
scripts, found it in the Convent of St. Cath- 
arine at the base of Mt. Sinai. When dis- 
covered it was in a waste basket and would 
soon have been burned. The monks were 
unable to read it, and had no idea of its 
value. But noting Tischendorf's surprise 
and delight at finding it, they took it from 
him, and it was not until persistent and dis- 
E 65 



Ubc JBible in CDodem %iQbt 

couraging efforts, running through fourteen 
years, that he was able, through the Rus- 
sian government, to secure it and open its 
treasures to the world. This manuscript 
contains the entire New Testament and the 
text is in excellent condition. The leaves 
are three hundred and forty-six and a half 
in number and are thirteen and a half by 
fourteen inches. Fac-similes have been 
extensively made. The original is now 
preserved in St. Petersburg. Scholars are 
not agreed as to the relative value of these 
two manuscripts, but both are of great 
value and are in substantial agreement. 

The ten manuscripts of the next century 
are of great interest and value ; especially 
is this true of two of them, the Codex Alex- 
andrinus which is preserved in the British 
Museum, and the Codex Ephraemi in the 
National Library at Paris. The former was 
presented to Charles I. in 1628 by Cyril 
Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople. It is 
somewhat fragmentary, but of great value. 

The Ephraem Codex is a palimpsest, that 
is, it was originally a copy of the Scriptures, 
but as parchment was scarce the first writ- 
ing was in a measure erased and the ser- 
mons of Ephraem of Edessa were written 
over the old writing. There are many of 

66 



/Ibanudcript6 anD tirandlationa 

these palimpsests and, of course, they are 
read with great difficulty. But we will not 
attempt a discussion of any of these manu- 
scripts. It ought to be said, however, be- 
fore dismissing this part of our subject, that 
the biblical manuscripts are much more 
abundant, and older than those of any other 
writings. 

There is no complete copy of Homer 
earlier than the thirteenth century of our 
era, though there are fragments from an 
earlier date. Of Herodotus the earliest 
manuscript is the ninth century, and of 
Plato the oldest is about the same date. 
One copy of Virgil is as early as the fourth 
century. It is evident at once that the 
copies of the sacred Scriptures were far 
more widely made and more carefully pre- 
served than those of any other writings. 
At the same time, efforts for their destruc- 
tion were put forth which were unknown 
in the case of the other ancient manuscripts. 

III. We come now to the early transla- 
tions. The Jews had a strong prejudice 
against the translating of their sacred writ- 
ings into other languages. Before the Baby- 
lonian captivity, the Aramaic language be- 
gan to find its way into Palestine, and after 
that event it became the language of the 

67 



Zbc M\)lc in moDecn Xigbt 

people. Still the Hebrew continued to be the 
religious language, and to some extent must 
have been understood by the people. It 
will be recalled, however, that when Nehe- 
miah had the law read in the presence of 
all the people, we are told, ** So they read 
in the book in the law of God distinctly, 
and gave the sense, and caused them to 
understand the reading " (Neh. 8 : 8). 

For hundreds of years the Aramaic was 
the language of common intercourse among 
the people of Palestine. The reading of 
the Scriptures in the synagogues was ac- 
companied with oral translations, and these 
as prejudice wore away were gradually re- 
duced to writing in what is known as the 
Targums. But these are not exact trans- 
lations, but rather paraphrases and explana- 
tions. The Talmud is a wearisome mass 
of notes and comments upon the Targums. 

The Samaritan version, while not a trans- 
lation, should be mentioned here. The 
Samaritans were a mixed people occupying 
the territory made partially vacant by the 
carrying away to Babylon of the northern 
kingdom, the kingdom of Israel. The Jews 
would have no dealings with this mongrel 
people. But there was Israelitish influence 
sufficient among them to in some degree 

68 



A^anuscrtptd and tTrandlatione 

control their religion, and probably about 
500 B. C. they secured a copy of the law, 
which they preserved with utmost care, and 
this constitutes the basis of what is known 
as the Samaritan version. 

The Septuagint, the famous Greek trans- 
lation of the entire Old Testament, was 
made at Alexandria, in Africa. It has been 
somewhat difficult to fix with precision, the 
date of this translation. It seems certain, 
however, that it was begun about 275 B. C. 
during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 
and that it was completed not later than 130 
B. C. As the Greek language had spread 
all over northern Africa and western Asia, 
at the time of Christ this version of the 
Scriptures had come into very general use 
among the Jews. Of the three hundred 
and fifty quotations in the New Testament 
from the Old, three hundred of them seem 
to have been from the Septuagint. 

One other ancient translation of the Old 
Testament, and part of the New, is the 
Syriac, or Peshito, made, it is supposed, in 
the second century of the Christian era. 

Other early translations are the Latin 
Vulgate, of the Old and New Testament, 
made by Jerome in the fourth century, and 
the Arabic, made in the tenth century. 

69 



Xlbc Xiblc in tvloDern Xigbt 

There are also early Egyptian, Armenian, 
Persian, and Ethiopic translations. I shall 
not attempt to speak of the hundreds of 
translations of later times. 

IV. With this hurried survey of the man- 
uscripts and translations, we are brought to 
the question of the accuracy of the biblical 
text as we now have it. When we remem- 
ber that the oldest extant Hebrew manu- 
script of the Old Testament was made 
about nine hundred years, and the earliest 
New Testament manuscript about three 
hundred years after Christ, we may well 
ask. What assurance have we that these in 
any accurate way represent the thoughts 
of the original writers ? 

It is a ready solution of the whole ques- 
tion to say that God, who inspired the 
original writers, has carefully supervised 
the transmission of their messages down 
through the ages. There is undoubtedly 
some truth in this claim, yet in existing 
manuscripts there is a great variety of read- 
ings. It is true that the great bulk of these 
variations have to do with insignificant de- 
tails, but there are some which touch upon 
vital doctrines. For example, in i John 
5 : 7 we read : ** There are three that bear 
record in heaven, the Father, the Word and 

70 



/D^anuactiptd and translations 

the Holy Ghost : and these three are one." 
But this statement is not found at all in 
the oldest and best manuscripts. Another 
striking instance is found in the closing 
chapter of the book of Mark. The two 
oldest Greek manuscripts close with the 
eighth verse and so do not contain the oft- 
quoted command, ** Go ye into all the 
world and preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture, he that believeth and is baptized 
shall be saved and he that believeth not 
shall be damned." And yet when all these 
variations have been carefully noted, it still 
remains true that there is remarkable agree- 
ment throughout these many manuscripts. 

Let me call attention to several important 
matters which help to inspire confidence in 
the substantial accuracy of the text of Scrip- 
ture as we have it. 

I. The great care exercised by the copy- 
ists. As we have already seen the Jewish 
scribes were hedged about by the most ex- 
acting regulations in making their copies of 
the Scriptures. They believed in the ex- 
treme sacredness of these writings and thus 
had every incentive to the utmost care in 
their work. It is a fact worthy of note, 
that while the Hebrew manuscripts are all 
of a comparatively late date, there is a 

71 



Zbc Mblc in niodecn %iQht 

striking agreement among them. While 
the copying of the New Testament writings 
was a little freer than that of the Old, still 
great care was exercised, as is evident from 
the character of the best manuscripts. 

2. Another consideration is that these old 
manuscripts come from different sources. 
The bearing of this upon the form of the 
original text is at once apparent. For ex- 
ample, two copies are made of an original 
text, one copy goes to Egypt, the other to 
Palestine and each becomes the basis of 
other copies. In later years manuscripts 
are found, one comes down the Alexandrian 
stream of copying, the other the Palestin- 
ian. It is at once apparent that the agree- 
ments in these later manuscripts undoubt- 
edly represent the original text. So that 
while manuscripts may be several hundred 
years removed from the original, it may be 
a comparatively easy matter to restore the 
text from which they came. 

(3) Another source of great help is the 
ancient translations and versions. While 
we have no Hebrew manuscript of the Old 
Testament earlier than the tenth century 
A. D., we do have the Septuagint, a trans- 
lation made some two hundred years before 
the Christian era, and good Greek manu- 

72 



Aanudctiptd anD G^ranelations 

scripts of this translation from the fourth 
century have come down to us. The Sev- 
enty, or whoever made this translation, 
must have had Hebrew manuscripts of a 
very early date before them. So that 
this version becomes of great service in 
seeliing the original Hebrew text. The 
Samaritan version of the Pentateuch, made 
probably 500 B. C, and possibly earlier, 
though corrupted by Samaritan ideas, is of 
no small value. 

The Peshito or Syriac translation of the 
Old and part of the New Testament, made 
in the second century, the Old Testament 
probably earlier, is of great aid in getting 
back to the original text. But I will not 
pursue this thought farther. It may be 
well to state, however, that the helps for 
the restoration of the original text of the 
Bible are immeasurably greater and more 
satisfactory than those found in the case of 
any other ancient writings. 

Then to all this must be added the fact 
that men of peculiar genius for this kind 
of work have during the past fifty or 
seventy-five years given an almost incredi- 
ble amount of painstaking, unwearied, and 
enthusiastic labor to textual criticism. The 
Germans, Lachmann and Tischendorf ; the 

73 



^be M\)lc in fllodern Xigbt 

Englishmen, Tregelles and Scrivener, and 
tlie American, Ezra Abbott, during the cen- 
tury just closed, earned for themselves in 
this department of investigation immortal 
fame among biblical scholars and rendered 
to the church a service of immeasurable 
value. Their work has greatly strengthened 
confidence in the genuineness and authen- 
ticity of the books of the Bible. The work 
is not yet completed ; new discoveries con- 
tinue to be made and many questions are 
still unsettled, but theories are giving way 
before facts, and the text of the Scriptures, 
as it came from the hand of the inspired 
writers, is becoming more and more fully 
established. 



VI 



Xtfibt from Bncient /iRonumenta 
and Documenta 

HE Bible claims to be history. It 
begins with the creation, passes 
over the early centuries very 
rapidly with no attempt at fullness of state- 
ment, comes down to the history of Israel, 
which is more in detail and yet in a meas- 
ure fragmentary, has a long break of about 
four hundred years between the Old and 

74 




Bncient /ibonumentd and 2)ocument0 

New Testaments, and then records the 
eventful scenes connected with the work 
of Jesus Christ and the founding of the 
Christian church. 

But the Hebrews were only a single peo- 
ple, other nations and peoples touched them 
on every side ; in fact their little country 
was in the very highway of the mighty 
civilizations of the past. The biblical rec- 
ord has many references to these surround- 
ing nations. There were tradings, alliances, 
wars, rebellions, and captivities. Time 
was when the historicity of many portions 
of the Old Testament was questioned and 
confirmation was wanting. But the work 
of the past century, and especially the 
latter half of it, in the discoveries in the 
ruins of ancient cities, has thrown much 
light upon biblical matters. Egypt and 
Assyria, the valleys of the Nile and of the 
Euphrates, have yielded buried treasures 
which have opened long-forgotten centuries 
and made us well acquainted with the cus- 
toms, governments, and peoples of the long 
ago. Volumes have been published detailing 
these discoveries and the names of Botta, 
Layard, Rawlinson, Smith, and others have 
become household words through their work 
in this wonderful field of investigation. 

75 



Zbc Miblc in flloDem Xidbt 

In our study at this time we shall conside 
the three following topics : I. A general sur 
vey of these extra biblical sources of knowl 
edge of ancient peoples. II. Important ref 
erences to Old Testament statements. Ill 
Some direct allusions to New Testament 
matters by these outside records. 

I. First, then, a general survey. The 
sources of knowledge with which we are 
here concerned, are inscriptions and writ- 
ings of various kinds on monuments, uten- 
sils, coins, stones, and clay tablets. Then 
later there are the writings of the old histor- 
ians, Berosus, Herodotus, Josephus, Pliny, 
Eusebius, and a few others. It will not be 
necessary to make any general study of the 
work of these historians. Brief statements 
will be made concerning them as occasion 
arises to quote from their writings. 

In Egypt, records of the ancient dynas- 
ties reaching back nearly five thousand 
years B. C. have been discovered. It is 
no longer a question whether the art of 
writing was known in the days of Moses, 
for here is evidence of a flourishing civiliza- 
tion reaching back as far before Moses as 
we are after him. That is, if we journey 
back the course of time to Moses we have 
only gone half-way to the beginnings of 

76 



Bncient Monuments and 2>ocumentd 

Egyptian civilization as disclosed by these 
recent discoveries. 

The valleys of the Tigris and the Euphra- 
tes, in Central Western Asia, were the seat 
of another equally ancient civilization. In 
1842 the Frenchman, Botta, discovered in 
the remains of ancient Nineveh the palace 
of Sargon II., who flourished 722-705 B. C. 
This was a most magnificent palace, cover- 
ing an area of more than twenty -five acres. 
It abounded in inscriptions and antiquities 
of great value. 

A few years later the Englishman, Lay- 
ard, began excavations at Nimroud, some 
twenty or thirty miles south of Nineveh, 
and here discovered the remains of the 
palace of Asurnazirpal, who reigned 884- 
860 B. C. The British Museum was won- 
derfully enriched by what he found. A 
little later Layard unearthed another palace 
which proved to be that of the famous 
Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, who 
reigned 705-681 B. C. Byron speaks of 
him in the well-known lines : 

The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold, 
His cohorts all gleaming with silver and gold. 

But in many respects the most remark- 
able discovery of all was that made by 

17 



XTbe :S&iblc in moDern Xtgbt 

another Englishman, George Smith, in 1872. 
I refer to the library at Nineveh, of thirty 
thousand tablets and cylinders, collected 
by Asurbanipal, the Sardanapalus of Greek 
history, who reigned 668-626 B. C. A 
volume would be inadequate to describe 
this wonderful library. The tablets and 
cylinders are of clay written upon while 
soft, in what is known as the cuneiform 
characters, and then baked and placed in 
this library to be preserved thousands of 
years. These tablets deal with all kinds 
of subjects, commercial, political, social, 
and religious. Important discoveries have 
also been made in Arabia, in Syria, and in 
Palestine. 

1 must not leave this part of my subject 
without speaking briefly of several most re- 
markable stones which have wonderfully 
helped in opening up these ancient store- 
houses of information. In 1799 there was 
accidentally discovered, in excavating near 
the mouth of the Nile, what is known as the 
Rosetta Stone, named after the place near 
which it was found. This stone is black 
granite, three feet nine inches in height, two 
feet four and a half inches in width, and 
eleven inches thick, and is now in the 
British Museum. The inscription upon this 

78 



Bnclent /Ronumcnts anO Documents 

stone is written in three languages. The 
upper portion is old Egyptian and written in 
the very ancient hieroglyphics ; the central 
portion is later Egyptian written in a kind of 
running hand, while the lower part is written 
in Greek. It was set up by Ptolemy Epiph- 
anes in the year 195 B. C. This stone with 
its three-fold inscription furnished a key to 
the ancient hieroglyphic inscriptions found 
everywhere in Egypt. 

What the Rosetta Stone was for Egypt, 
the Behistun Rock was for Assyria. This 
was discovered by Rawlinson in 1835. It 
is near the ruins of ancient Behistun, in 
Persia. This rock is the polished side of a 
precipitous cliff, some three hundred feet 
from the base, and is reached with very 
great difficulty. The inscriptions ordered 
cut by Darius I., king of Persia, about 515 
B. C, are in three languages, and while 
they are all in the cuneiform characters, 
the)' made possible the mastery of this 
most difficult kind of writing. 

The Moabite Stone to which I shall have 
occasion to refer later, was found by a mis- 
sionary by the name of Klein, in 1868, at 
Dibon, just east of the Dead Sea. This is 
about the size of the Rosetta Stone, and 
contains the record of the doings of Mesha, 

79 



XTbe Mblc in (lloDetn Xfdbt 

the king of Moab, in which are many allu- 
sions to biblical persons and places. But 
this must suffice for these more general 
matters. 

II. We come now to consider some of the 
more important references in these ancient 
records to Old Testament statements. 

In the old Nineveh library is found a 
tablet, somewhat broken and defective, con- 
taining an account of the creation which 
has some points of striking similarity to the 
record in Genesis. There is also a very 
remarkable deluge tablet which in very 
many particulars agrees with the biblical 
account. But to stop for a discussion of 
these would leave no time for other mat- 
ters more directly in line with our present 
investigation. 

In considering the bearing of these out- 
side records upon Old Testament accounts 
we will note : 

I. The general setting of Old Testament 
history. The Old Testament record brings 
clearly to the front the existence of certain 
prominent nations. When Abraham came 
into Egypt he found a great and prosperous 
nation. The records of the monuments as 
we have seen bear testimony to the great- 
ness of this people, not only at this date 

80 



Bncient /bonumentd anD 2>ocument0 

but for centuries before. Every biblical 
allusion to the great powers of the East 
brings into prominence Assyria. Mighty 
kings loom up in the biblical narrative from 
this Eastern world. The existence of these 
great monarchs is abundantly confirmed by 
the testimony of the monuments. Time 
was when it was thought that the biblical 
description of Nineveh was extravagant 
and unreliable, but modern research has 
found the remains of a city of splendid pro- 
portions and magnificent structures. 

As the varying relations between Egypt 
and Syria and Assyria are learned from 
these exhumed records and deciphered 
monuments, a flood of light is thrown upon 
many chapters in Israel's history. Take a 
single illustration. The reign of Jeroboam 
II. as given in the Scriptures was a brilliant 
one. He greatly extended his kingdom. 
He conquered the king of Syria and cap- 
tured Damascus and Hamath. How do we 
account for this wonderful success, and 
that while pushing so far east he was un- 
disturbed by the Assyrians ? The ancient 
records inform us that under the Assyrian 
monarch, Ramman-nirari III., Syria had 
been crushed and so was rendered a com- 
paratively easy conquest for Jeroboam II. 
F 8i 



^be Sible in filoDem Xtgbt 

At the same time the Assyrian kings who 
followed this conqueror were weak, and 
during these years of Jeroboam's glory 
Assyria was completely withdrawn from 
the West, being absorbed with matters at 
home. This is but one instance among 
very many where the biblical narrative is 
wonderfully illumined by light from the 
monuments. 

These discoveries too, have contributed 
immeasurably to the locating of places 
named in the Bible, so that biblical geog- 
raphy has been practically reconstructed. 
Biblical chronology, always perplexing and 
uncertain, owing to the fragmentary charac- 
ter of the scriptural records, has had many 
points cleared up by recent discoveries. 

2. But it is time to note a few specially 
interesting specific cases where these non- 
biblical narratives touch the Bible records. 

(i) In Gen. ii : 28, 32 we learn that 
Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldees 
and stopped on his way to Canaan at 
Haran. On the west bank of the Euphra- 
tes, near the head of the Persian Gulf, 
there are the ruins of an ancient city. 
Here on the bricks of the oldest temple is 
found the name ** Hur of Khaldi.'' Another 
interesting fact disclosed is that Ur was 

82 



Bncient /bonumentd anD Documents 

presided over by the moon god, Sin, and 
that this same god was the patron deity 
of Haran, or Harran, where Abraham's 
family stopped and where his father, Te- 
rah, died. It was natural that this stop 
should have been made among worshipers 
of the god whom they had served in their 
old home at Ur. 

Another item of interest from the remains 
of this old city is that among the kings 
mentioned in the war waged against Sodom 
by the combined forces of the East, referred 
to in Gen. 14, several of their names have 
been found in these old records. The 
name Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, who 
was very prominent in this war, is found 
to be composed of two Elamitic words, 
Kadur, the general name for their ruler, 
and Logamar, the name of a deity of Elam. 

(2) But leaving those more remote times 
we come down to the going of the Israelites 
into Egypt, their sojourn there, and their 
deliverance. We must remember that they 
were but a comparatively small tribe and 
that they would cut but a very insignificant 
figure in the history of the mighty Egyptian 
nation and would receive practically no 
mention upon the tablets recording the 
achievements of great kings. 

83 



^be :SQib\c in modern %iQbt 

The cordial reception of the Israelites by 
Pharaoh and their establishment in one of 
the best sections of Egypt was largely due 
to Joseph's popularity and power. But 
added light is thrown upon this when we 
learn from the monuments that at this time 
the eighteenth dynasty, known as the 
Hyksos Dynasty, was ruling in Egypt. 
This ruling house seems to have been 
Semitic and thus closely akin to the He- 
brews. This explains why Joseph was 
received with such favor and also why 
Jacob and his sons were so generously 
dealt with. Later **a king arose who 
knew not Joseph " and the monuments 
show that an Egyptian dynasty came into 
authority again. 

Rameses II., whose mummy was discov- 
ered a few years ago, was the Pharaoh of 
the oppression. During this period we are 
told in Exod. i : ii, "Therefore they did 
set over them taskmasters to afflict them 
with their burdens. And they built for 
Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raam- 
ses.*' One of these treasure cities, Pi- 
Tum, has been unearthed and the very 
divisions of the buildings into brick bins 
for the grain are still to be seen. And a 
very interesting fact is that some of those 

84 



Bncient /n^onumenta and 2>ocumentd 

old sun-dried bricks are made without 
straw, suggesting the hard service when 
the Hebrew slaves were no longer given 
straw for the making of their bricks. 
Menepteh II. who succeeded Rameses has 
left a "victorious hymn'* in which the 
Israelites are mentioned by name. 

Manetho, an Egyptian historian, who 
wrote about 300 B. C, mentions a race of 
leprous slaves who opposed and despised 
the gods and used in sacrifice the sacred 
animals of Egypt, whose leader was Moses. 
and who were finally expelled from Egypt 
and driven as far north as Syria, where 
they formed a nation. Manetho's account 
is made as creditable as possible for the 
Egyptians and yet the essential features of 
Israel's bondage and departure from Egypt 
are there. 

(3) During the period of the kings of 
Israel and Judah the references upon the 
monuments become very numerous. We 
can note only a few of these. In 2 Chron. 
12 : 2, 3, 4 we are told that Shishak, king 
of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem "and 
he took the fenced cities which pertained 
to Judah." On the wall of the temple of 
Amun at Karnak is the record of Shishak's 
campaign. Among the cities named as 

85 



tTbe Mblc in flQodetn Xidbt 

conquered by him are Gaza, Aijalon, 
Gibeon, also Judah-Melech, and as Melech 
means king this is supposed to refer to the 
capital of Judah, Jerusalem. Extended rec- 
ords of the conquests of Shalmaneser II. 
have been discovered. In these the names 
of Ahab, Jehu, and Omri, kings of Israel, 
are mentioned. And upTon the black obe- 
lisk found at Nimroud by Layard proces- 
sions of Jews are represented paying tribute 
to Shalmaneser II. All fits exactly into the 
Scripture records. 

Tiglath-pileser, another famous Assyrian 
monarch, is mentioned in 2 Kings 15 : 29 : 
** In the days of Pekah king of Israel came 
Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took 
Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, 
and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and 
Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and car- 
ried them captive to Assyria.*' The un- 
earthed records of this old Assyrian con- 
queror recount his Western conquests and 
mention by name Menahem, Pekah, and 
Hoshea, kings of Israel, and Azariah and 
Ahaz of the southern kingdom. 

Allusion has been made to the Moabite 
Stone. This was set up by Mesha, the 
king of Moab. A full account of his rela- 
tion to Israel is found in 2 Kings 3 : 4-27. 

86 



Bncient /iRonumente anD Documents 

This Moabite Stone tells of the tribute paid 
to Omri, king of Israel, and of the revolt of 
the king of Moab against this oppression. 
Among familiar names found upon this stone 
are Nebo, Sharon, Omri, Israel, Dibon, Che- 
osh, and Jehovah. It is a very striking con- 
firmation of the Scripture narrative. 

The accounts of Sennacherib's campaigns 
are full of interest. He made two inva- 
sions of Palestine. He was successful in 
the first and the Assyrian records read : 
**And because Hezekiah, King of Judah, 
would not submit to my yoke, I came up 
against him and by force of arms and by 
the might of my power I took forty of his 
strong fenced cities, and of the smaller 
towns which were scattered about I took 
and plundered a great multitude." The 
biblical account of this is found in 2 Kings 
i8 : 13 and reads, ** Now in the fourteenth 
year of King Hezekiah did Sennacherib, 
king of Assyria, come up against the 
fenced cities of Judah and took them.'* 

In the second invasion by this same king 
the Scriptures declare (2 Kings 19 : 35), 
** The angel of the Lord went out and 
smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hun- 
dred fourscore and five thousand." Her- 
odotus, the Greek historian, who was born 

87 



Zhc Miblc in fHlodetn Xigbt 

484 B. C, gives an account of a strange 
discomfiture of this army of Sennacherib. 
He does not, it is true, ascribe this to God, 
but relates how they were in a remarkable 
manner compelled to give up the assault 
upon the Jews. Josephus speaks of this 
and quotes from Berosus to the effect that 
a fearful pestilence struck this army and 
one hundred and eighty-five thousand died 
in one night. 

It was at one time urged that the casting 
of the Hebrew children into the fiery fur- 
nace and of Daniel into the lions' den by 
the King of Babylon was entirely out of 
harmony with the customs and civilization 
of the enlightened Babylonians. But in 
the annals of Asurbanipal, who reigned a 
few years before Nebuchadnezzar, there is 
the following: **I ordered Saulmugina, my 
rebellious brother, who made war with me, 
to be cast into a fiery burning furnace." 
He destroyed many of his brother's fol- 
lowers in the same manner, and of others 
he says, ** The rest of the people I threw 
alive among the bulls and the lions as Sen- 
nacherib, my grandfather, used to throw 
them " ; and further, among the ruins has 
been found a sculptured lion standing over 
the prostrate form of a man, and, curious 

88 



Bncient A^onumenta and Documentd 

enough, this lion is muzzled, suggesting at 
least the deliverance of Daniel when the 
angel of the Lord '* shut the lion's mouth " 
(Dan. 6 : 22). 

III. But we cannot linger longer upon 
this mass of material throwing light upon 
the Old Testament records, and can take 
time for only a very brief consideration of 
the New Testament period. Of course 
when we come to the New Testament we 
have reached comparatively recent times 
and historical matter becomes more abun- 
dant. Were there time we would note 
how the New Testament allusions to cus- 
toms, political matters, and rulers ; to com- 
merce, to cities, and to countries are in 
striking harmony with facts as gleaned 
from other sources. It is an easy matter 
too to trace a succession of Christian 
writers from apostolic times. But I will 
take time simply to give a few quotations 
from a few early historians who make direct 
reference to Christianity. 

Tacitus was born A. D. 15 and was there- 
fore a young man at the time of the cruci- 
fixion. In his annals the following inter- 
esting statement is found. Referring to 
the fact that Nero himself was believed to 
have set fire to Rome, Tacitus declares, 

89 



^be Miblc in flQodern TLiQbt 

'* In order, therefore, to put a stop to the 
report, he laid the guilt and inflicted the 
sorest punishments upon a set of people 
who were holden in abhorrence for their 
crimesand called, by the vulgar, Christians. 
The founder of that name was Christ, who 
suffered death in the reign of Tiberius, 
under his procurator, Pontius Pilate." He 
then describes in detail the horrible perse- 
cutions which they suffered and refers to 
the " vast multitude " that was convicted. 

Suetonius, a contemporary of Tacitus, 
makes brief allusions to this same persecu- 
tion by Nero : ** The Christians were pun- 
ished, a set of men of a new and mischievous 
superstition.*' 

Pliny was governor in Bithynia, Asia 
Minor, A. D. lOO. He wrote to Trajan, the 
emperor, for instructions. 

His letter is an extended one and a single 
extract will show its character : *' It is my 
custom, sir, to refer to you all things about 
which I am in doubt. For who is more 
capable of directing my hesitancy or in- 
structing my ignorance .? I have never 
been present at any of the trials of the 
Christians, consequently I do not know the 
nature of their crimes. . . They declared 
that the whole of their guilt or their error 

90 



Bncient ^onumenta and Bocuments 

was that they were accustomed to assemble 
on a stated day before it was light and sing 
in concert a hymn of praise to Christ, as 
God, and to bind themselves by an oath, 
not for the perpetration of any wickedness, 
but that they would not commit any theft, 
robbery, or adultery, nor violate their word, 
nor refuse when called upon to restore 
anything committed to their trust.*' Pliny 
sets forth at length his method of dealing 
with these persons, who were very numer- 
ous, and seeks Trajan's advice. This is all 
very interesting when we remember that 
this is the Asia Minor where Paul did much 
work and established many churches. 

The famous passage in Josephus, the 
Jewish writer, also of the first century, A. 
D., reads, *'Now there was about this 
time Jesus, a wise man — if it be lawful to 
call him a man — for he was a doer of won- 
derful works and a teacher of such men as 
receive the truth with pleasure. He drew 
over to him both many of the Jews and 
many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, 
and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the 
principal men among us, had condemned 
him to the cross, those that loved him at 
first did not forsake him, for he appeared 
to them alive again the third day, as the 

91 



XTbe Miblc in {HloDern Xfdbt 

divine prophets had foretold these and ten 
thousand other wonderful things concerning 
him. And the tribe of Christians, so named 
from him, is not extinct at this day." 

The genuineness of this passage has 
been much disputed, but such authorities 
as Burton, Paley, and Rawlinson accept it 
as genuine. 

But we cannot now pursue this investi- 
gation further. The work of exploration 
and discovery still goes on. Many ruins 
of ancient cities await the work of the ex- 
cavator and the archaeologist, and will 
undoubtedly add greatly to the knowledge 
already obtained. 

Not all the discoveries from these ancient 
monuments have accorded with the current 
understanding of the Scriptures. Some 
perplexing questions have been raised and 
some problems await further light from 
this remote past. But on the whole the 
position of the Bible has been greatly 
strengthened by the records from these 
long buried cities. 

I cannot do better than to close with the 
final words of Doctor Price's admirable 
volume, ** The Monuments and the Old 
Testament,*' to which I am greatly in- 
debted. He says, " Our Old Testament 

92 



^be JBiblc and /IboOem Science 

has become a marvelously new Old Tes- 
tament. Many of its transformers were 
peoples whose ambitions were coequal with 
the abode of man, whose policy was * might 
establishes right,' and whose interests were 
supremely selfish. These nations formed 
the background of Israel's life and gave it 
many a tint, many a shade, and spots of 
darkest dye. But their records, chiseled 
in adamantine volumes, stamped in perish- 
able clay, painted in the darkness of the 
tombs, or cut on mountain-side, bring im- 
partial, unimpeachable and conclusive proof 
of the veracity of the Old Testament." 



VII 
Zhc MbW and /iboDern Science 

|T is not my purpose to consider the 
conflicts or the agreements between 
science and religion. My theme is 
not religion and modern science but the 
Bible and Modern Science. Many things 
have been done by religionists, and in the 
name of religion, for which the Bible was 
in no way responsible, just as, on the other 
hand, many things have been claimed and 
done in the name of science, for which true 

93 




trbe J^ible in fHoDecn Xiabt 

science was not responsible. I desire not 
to review past controversies and misunder- 
standings, but to study present conditions 
and tendencies. I shall call attention first 
to the great lines of agreement between 
the Bible and modern science, and sec- 
ondly to the points, or supposed points, of 
disagreement. 

I. The Important Lines of Agreement. 
It is a most significant fact that modern 
science belongs exclusively to those nations 
which have made the most of the Bible. 
There is practically no science where there 
is no Bible. If the Bible has been the bitter 
and uncompromising foe to science which 
some claim, it is very remarkable that only 
those nations which have had this enemy of 
progress to contend with, are the ones that 
have made any scientific progress. 

The fact is the points of agreement be- 
tween the Bible and modern science are 
very marked and call for careful considera- 
tion. These agreements are such as to 
indicate clearly that these forces are not 
enemies, but allies in the work of human 
advancement. But this will become more 
apparent by noting in detail what these 
points of agreement are. 

I. We may speak first of the spirit of the 

94 



Zbc :©ible an& /iBoDcrn Science 

Bible and of science. I do not now refer to 
the spirit of intolerance that has often char- 
acterized religion nor to the spirit of arro- 
gance which has frequently assumed the 
name of science, but to the spirit that be- 
longs to the Bible and to true science. 

(i) It is the spirit of seriousness. The 
Bible is an intensely serious book. There 
are many notes of triumph and of joy, of 
confidence and hope, and yet all through 
there is a tone of great gravity. So it al- 
ways is with the truly scientific man. The 
spirit of levity and superficiality, of trifling 
and carelessness is unknown to him. 

(2) Then there is the spirit of confidence 
and of faith. The Bible portrays sin in all 
of its awful blackness and faces squarely 
the dark side of life, and yet it is full of 
encouragement and hopefulness. It is not 
pessimistic. Science has sometimes been 
sunken in the mire of materialism and been 
filled with gloom. There was a strong 
tendency in this direction a quarter of a 
century ago, but a far more hopeful spirit 
dominates science to-day. There is among 
scientific men a confidence in the reality of 
truth, and in its immeasurable value to hu- 
manity. And science unites with the Bible 
in seeing a future of blessing ahead, 

95 



Ube Sible in (lloDetn %iQht 

(3) Again, there is the spirit of liberty. 
Modern science teaches freedom, individual 
liberty, the right and duty of every man to 
think for himself. The Bible teaching cul- 
minates in Jesus Christ. He laid peculiar 
emphasis upon the liberty of conscience. 
He called his followers disciples. He said, 
"Go ye and make disciples," make learn- 
ers, ** of all nations." He came not to put 
fetters on men but to set captives free. 
The past has had so much ecclesiasticism 
and sectarianism, so much creed making 
and creed enforcing that the spirit of liberty 
and tolerance and charity which belongs to 
the Bible has often been lost sight of. But 
with the better understanding of the Bible 
its spirit of liberty is being infused into 
every department of life, and is contrib- 
uting in no small degree to the progress of 
science itself. 

2. Another vital point of agreement be- 
tween the Bible and modern science has to 
do with God. 

Two sublime thoughts are brought out in 
the Bible respecting God. These consti- 
tute the very essence of scriptural teach- 
ing. God is an infinite, intelligent person- 
ality, back of all things and the source of 
all things ; and also God is in all things, an 

96 



^bc Bible an& ^obern Science 

ever-present, directing, all-pervading power. 
If we had the time it would be an easy 
matter to show from a study of the Scrip- 
tures how wonderfully these two thoughts 
fill the Bible. *' In the beginning God,'' 
is the sublime opening, and " in him we 
live and move and have our being " is a 
brief summary of the whole. 

Science has sometimes been atheistic, 
finding no God anywhere. It has been 
deistic, recognizing a remote or absentee 
God ruling all things by self-acting laws 
and secondary causes. It has tended to- 
ward pantheism, identifying God with the 
universe. It has been agnostic, claiming 
that God and spiritual existence, if such 
things there are, are utterly unknown and 
unknowable. But these have been but 
passing phases of thought as men have 
struggled with the great problems of the 
universe, until to-day science is more and 
more positively asserting that back of all 
things there is an intelligent, omnipotent 
God. And with this, great emphasis is be- 
ing laid upon the immanence of God. The 
universe is filled with him. He lives in 
every part of creation. Herbert Spencer 
concludes that there is an ** Infinite and 
eternal energy from which all things pro- 
G 97 



Zbc Miblc in fnlodem %iQbt 

ceed." And the younger scientists are 
saying, "This is God, and he is over all 
things and in all things." 

The science of the twentieth century will 
break loose from the shackles of material- 
ism and agnosticism and come into harmony 
with the great underlying conception of God 
found in the Bible. 

3. But when we come to man the points of 
agreement are equally marked. There are 
two central thoughts in the Bible respect- 
ing man. (i) He is at the head of creation. 
Ps. 8 : 5, 6, in the Revised version reads, 
** For thou hast made him but little lower 
than God, and crownest him with glory and 
honor." And Gen. i : 28 sets forth man's 
supremacy : *' Have dominion over the fish 
of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and 
over every living thing that moveth upon 
the earth." And of his creation it is de- 
clared, ** And God created man in his own 
image, in the image of God created he 
him " (Gen. i : 27). The biblical treat- 
ment of man throughout is in perfect har- 
mony with this conception of his exalted 
character. 

(2) But another thought equally promi- 
nent is that in his present condition man is 
imperfect and needs renewing and develop- 

98 



Zbc Mblc anD /IBoDetn Science 

ing. The Bible is full of the thought of man's 
salvation, salvation not primarily nor chiefly 
in the sense of saving him from some future 
punishment, but a salvation that means the 
present realization of his true capabilities, 
the overcoming of existing limitations, and 
the attainment here and now of the higher 
possibilities of life. 

We turn now to the teachings of modern 
science and find these two thoughts respect- 
ing man central. Man is at the head of the 
existing orders of beings. Evolution has 
found its culmination and consummation in 
man. He is the end toward which the long 
ages preceding his appearance were ever 
tending. Professor Fiske, referring to Dar- 
win, says: "According to Darwinism the 
creation of man is still the goal toward 
which nature tended from the beginning." 
Modern science instead of belittling man, 
and making him a mere atom tossed help- 
lessly about by the mighty forces of the 
universe, finds in him the meaning and 
purpose of these forces. 

And more than this, science is teaching 
that the supreme work of nature now is 
the perfecting of man. Let me quote again 
from Professor Fiske: **Thus in the long 
series of organic beings, man is the last ; 

99 



L.crc. 



^be 3Bible (n niloOcrn Xiflbt 

the cosmic process having once evolved 
this masterpiece, could thenceforth do 
nothing better than to perfect him.'* Or 
take the following from Professor Le Conte : 
** As the material evolution of nature found 
its goal, its completion, and its significance 
in man, so must man enter at once upon a 
higher spiritual evolution to find its goal 
and completion and its significance in the 
ideal man, the divine man." Thus the 
Bible and science are in agreement upon 
these two fundamental thoughts : man is at 
the head of creation ; and the supreme work 
now is the spiritual, or higher development 
and perfecting of man. 

Did space permit, it would be interesting 
to note the bearing of the teachings of 
modern science upon the biblical teachings 
respecting life after death, the coming age, 
the new birth, Jesus Christ, human re- 
sponsibility, and sin.* 

It is encouraging and inspiring to observe 
how, as biblical interpreters come out from 
under the power of traditionalism, and 
scientists free themselves from the fetters 
of materialism, they are more and more 
coming together upon all the great vital 

1 The author has written somewhat fully upon these and other 
related topics in his book entitled, " Evolution and Man ; Here 
and Hereafter." 

100 



^be Mblc anD /Ibodem Science 

questions that relate to God, to man, and 
to eternity. 

II. But we must not leave this subject 
without considering some of the points of 
disagreement, or, at least, supposed dis- 
agreement, between the Bible and modern 
science. 

It is very easy to claim too much respect- 
ing the harmony between the Bible and 
science. There are points at which the 
adjustment is not complete. To what ex- 
tent this is due to imperfect knowledge in 
science and erroneous interpretations of 
the Scriptures, the future will disclose. 
These disagreements or lack of adjustments 
center at three or four points. If the diffi- 
culties here can be overcome, the minor 
questions of the deluge, the tower of Babel, 
Jonah, and the like, need cause no trouble. 

I. The first of these vital matters is the 
creation. It is believed by some that there 
is a radical and irreconcilable difference be- 
tween the teachings of the Bible and of 
modern science upon this question. If 
science teaches that God is not the direct 
and efficient cause in creation, there is such 
disagreement ; for the Bible does thus ex- 
alt God. On the other hand, if the Bible 
teaches that God, working from without, 

lOI 



^be Miblc in ^oDecn %iQbt 

like a mechanic, did in six days of twenty- 
four hours each, create all things, then there 
is hopeless lack of harmony with science, 
which teaches beyond question, that un- 
numbered ages were consumed in producing 
the world and its varied orders of life. 

But modern science does not leave God 
out. Haeckel may do this; Herbert Spencer 
may not find a personal Deity, though he 
does believe in an '*an infinite and eternal 
energy from which all things proceed '* ; 
Tyndall may for a time have believed in 
"the promise and potency of all things in 
matter " ; yet this materialistic phase of 
thought is passing away and science is be- 
coming thoroughly theistic. 

Evolution is not the result of the inter- 
action of blind forces, but the method by 
which the infinite God is finding expression. 
Evolution is everywhere accepted in scien- 
tific circles. But it is becoming apparent 
that evolution, a change involving progress 
and continuity, is possible only as there is 
a continuous incoming of energy from the 
infinite Source. All great forward move- 
ments in the evolutionary process, the in- 
coming of life, the production of variations 
leading to species, the various gradations 
of life up to moral and self-conscious being, 

102 



^be Mblc and /BboDern Science 

are the result of the increased inflow into 
existing channels of the inexhaustible di- 
vine energy. 

Such in brief is theistic evolution. Turn- 
ing now to the Bible account of creation 
what are the essential facts ? God, the 
source of all things ; and God, the imma- 
nent cause of every stage of the process. 
Again there is progressive change in the 
scriptural record from disorganization and 
chaos up to the creation of man ; and this 
change is from the lowest forms of life to 
the highest, following essentially the same 
order as that revealed by scientific investi- 
gation. There are great epochs, or ages, 
of progress revealed by geology. Six of 
these are usually recognized. The Azoic, 
or the period of no life ; the Primordial, the 
lowest forms of life ; the Primary, the age 
of fishes ; the Secondary, the age of rep- 
tiles ; the Tertiary, the age of mammals ; 
and the Quarternary, the age of man. 

If the Bible days of creation are long 
periods, then the disagreements between 
the Bible and science relative to creation 
have practically disappeared. Conclusive 
reasons for believing that they are such, 
are briefly as follows : 

(i) The Scripture use of the word day. 
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^be Mblc in HlloDern Xi^bt 

In Gen. 2 : 4, referring to this very work of 
creation, the entire creative period is called 
a day : ** In the day that the Lord made the 
earth and the heavens.'* Other passages 
are numerous, a few will suffice : Job 18 : 
20 ; Ps. 95 : 8 ; Isa. 2 : 11, 12 ; 2 Cor. 6 : 
2 ; 2 Peter 3 : 8. 

(2) The sun is not mentioned as marking 
the passage or division of time until the 
fourth day, and then this seems to have 
been only a portion of that day's work. 
Had the writer had in mind days of twenty- 
four hours each, marked off by the sun, and 
this narrative been based upon that, the sun 
would undoubtedly have found place at the 
beginning of the account. 

(3) An important argument is adduced 
from the Sabbath. It is urged that this 
whole creation scheme in Genesis is de- 
signed to enforce the Sabbath observance 
(Exod. 20 : 11). It is claimed that every- 
thing hinges upon these days being or- 
dinary days of twenty-four hours each, 
and that the moment they are regarded 
as long periods the argument for Sabbath 
observance breaks down. But here is an 
important fact. God has rested from the 
work of creation so far as this world is 
concerned, since the culmination of creation 

104 



Zbc JBiblc anD /HboDern Science 

in man. The Bible has no hint of his re- 
suming his worl<. No new and higher 
order has been produced, and so far as 
science has been able to make out, no new- 
species. There has been progress and de- 
velopment, but in an important sense rest 
from creation. 

So then God's rest day was not twenty- 
four hours, but a great period, and reason- 
able inference is that the other days were 
also long periods. This in no way inter- 
feres with the Sabbath law of six days of 
labor, followed by a day of rest. But I 
need not follow this further. A larger 
view of science and the Bible is seeing not 
disagreement, but harmony in their teach- 
ing in reference to creation. 

2. The antiquity of man furnishes an- 
other point where the Bible and science 
have been thought to be entirely out of 
harmony. Many prominent scientists be- 
lieve that man has existed upon this globe 
for hundreds of thousands of years. Evi- 
dences satisfactory to some have been 
found of the work of man before the glacial 
period. On the other hand it has been 
supposed that the Bible places the creation 
of man at four thousand years B. C. Here 
certainly is a very marked disagreement. 

105 



Zbc JBiblc in Modern Xtgbt 

Professor Winchell, a few years ago, sought 
to overcome the difficulty by insisting that 
Adam was not the first man, and his inter- 
esting work on ** Pre-Adamites" had a 
wide reading. But it is probable that if 
agreement be found between the Bible and 
science in this matter, it will be along an- 
other line. 

Evolutionists are noting the fact that 
there is a marked acceleration in the forces 
of progress as the ages advance ; for ex- 
ample, Haeckel has shown that the primary 
epoch was fourteen times as long as the 
tertiary epoch. Evolution during the period 
since the appearance of man, has been 
vastly more rapid than before. Hence it is 
a great mistake to estimate these later 
periods by the slow progress of paleonto- 
logical times. Then too, the data upon 
which the great antiquity of man is pre- 
dicated are so uncertain that many scientists 
are disposed to discredit the figures confi- 
dently brought forward by some. Science 
is far from having yet settled this question. 
Then too, biblical scholars are recognizing 
more fully the fact that there are great 
breaks in the biblical narrative, and that it 
is utterly impossible to fix, from scriptural 
data, the time when man first appeared 

io6 



Zbc Mblc an& /iBoDctn Science 

upon the earth. It is evidently much farther 
back than the date assigned by Archbishop 
Usher. So here we have, not a contradic- 
tion between the Bible and modern science, 
but an unsettled condition which must 
await further investigation on the part of 
scientists and Bible students. 

3. Another point of disagreement has 
been found in the fall of man. Most scien- 
tists have seen no place in any evolution- 
ary scheme for any fall comparable to that 
described in the third chapter of Genesis. 
Prof. Charles Morris declares : ** The doc- 
trine of a fall is absolutely without warrant 
outside the pages of Genesis." It is urged 
that instead of a fall there has been a grad- 
ual rising from the lowest stages of barbar- 
ism to civilization as seen to-day. Man 
possesses freedom of will; no scientist, but 
the materialist, denies this. There was a 
first man. Somewhere through the incom- 
ing of the divine into existing forms, an 
advance was made which produced the first 
being endowed with the supreme power of 
rational choice. Whether he abused that 
power or not is a question not of scientific 
theory, but of fact. The fall is not a theo- 
logical doctrine, but a question of fact and 
experience. A vast amount of theological 

107 



XLbc :iBil)le in nQoDetn Xidbt 

fiction has been imported into the Scripture 
narrative. The fall was essentially a wrong 
choice. Men are falling continually ; that 
is, in the exercise of their supreme power 
of rational choice they are deciding for the 
lower instead of the higher. With mate- 
rialism out of science and traditionalism out 
of the Bible, there is little trouble in finding 
a place in both for a fall that is in harmony 
with the history of the race and the facts 
of human experience. 

4. I shall take time to note but one more 
point of conflict and disagreement, this is 
upon the subject of miracles. 

The Bible records as historical occur- 
rences certain extraordinary events which 
are called miracles. Jesus Christ healed 
the sick, raised the dead, stilled the storm, 
rose from the grave, and ascended to glory ; 
and many other miraculous events are re- 
corded. Science has magnified the place 
of law in this universe. It has driven magic 
and superstition from the field. It has so 
exalted the unvarying operation of cause 
and effect, and the universal ordei- in every- 
thing, that to the minds of many it has left 
no place for miracles. 

And yet many are coming to see that 
modern science is not so much opposed to 

108 



Zbc Miblc anO /HboDecn Science 

miracles as to the old conception of a mira- 
cle, as a suspension or infraction of natural 
law. A miracle may simply be the mani- 
festation of a higher law. 

President Schurman declares : ** It is not 
criticism, it is not science, but it is dog- 
matism of the most arrant type, to assert 
that miracles are impossible." The fact 
is, miracles are in perfect accord with the 
evolutionary idea. Evolution implies that 
there is always something higher, not yet 
attained. There was a time when the 
highest force at work in the world was 
chemical, a little later vegetable life ap- 
peared, then animal, and still later rational, 
self-conscious life. There is always some 
higher law and force toward which nature 
is working. The incoming of the higher 
is always out of the ordinary, is wonder- 
ful, exceptional, miraculous, and yet per- 
fectly natural, in that it is in accordance 
with law. It is evident that there could be 
no progress without the incoming of the 
higher. So, then, the miraculous is not 
unscientific, but an essential part of a pro- 
gressive order of things. 

The present state is not the highest ; 
science insists by the very principles of 
evolution that there is a higher spiritual 

109 



^be Mblc in flloOetn Xi^bt 

age ahead. Why should not the forces of 
that higher state reach down into the pres- 
ent and prepare the way for the next great 
upward movement when the present age 
shall give place to the higher in the pro- 
gressive unfoldings of the ages ? Every 
age has had anticipatory forms, hints of the 
coming age. True miracles are but antici- 
patory suggestions, foregleams of the great 
upward movement which lies ahead. 

With a scientific religion and a religious 
science, the old conflicts will disappear and 
truth girded with increased power will go 
forth to larger conquests. 



VIII 

Unflucnce of tbe :©tblc TUpon Brt 

RT has been defined as *'the em- 
bodiment of the esthetic feeling 
in human productions,*' or as 
**the embodiment of beautiful thought in 
sensuous forms," or still more simply as 
**the expression of beauty." 

The fine arts to which these definitions 
apply are divided into two classes, those 
that reach the soul through the eye, such 
as architecture, sculpture, painting, en- 

IIO 




•ffnflucncc of tbc 31S(ble Tapon Brt 

graving, and those that reach the soul 
through the ear, music, poetry, and some 
say oratory. We cannot do better than 
to take up separately and note in a some- 
what hurried way the influence of the 
Bible upon each of these different depart- 
ments of art. 

I. Let us begin with poetry. Religious 
emotion has always sought expression in 
poetic numbers. This is seen in the wild, 
weird chants of pagan worshipers and in 
the sublime songs and psalms of the serv- 
ants of the true God. Job, the Psalms, 
Proverbs, and the Song of Solomon are 
written in poetic form, and deep poetic sen- 
timent and poetic expressions abound all 
through the Bible. 

The hymns of our religion from the days 
of the church fathers down to the present 
are saturated with biblical thought and 
furnish a class of poetic productions un- 
surpassed and unequaled in the world's 
literature in depth and purity of feeling, 
in fervor and richness of imagination, and 
in dignity and loftiness of expression. Po- 
etry would be despoiled of its richest pos- 
session if the hymns of the church were 
taken away. 

Then there are the great epics which the 
III 



^be :SBi\){c in nioDetn Xidbt 

Bible has produced — Dante's "Divine Com- 
edy,'* Tasso's ** Jerusalem Delivered," Mil- 
ton's '* Paradise Lost," Pollok's ** Course 
of Time," and many other kindred writings. 
Perhaps these are not read and prized as 
much now as formerly, and yet every true 
lover of poetry finds here a rich treasury 
of the best products of poetic genius. But 
outside of the poetry which is the direct 
result of biblical study and religious emo- 
tion the Scriptures have had a profound 
and far-reaching influence. The great 
poets have nearly all dealt largely in bib- 
lical quotations and allusions. They have 
wrought into their writings the lofty senti- 
ments, the high ideals, and the inspiring 
doctrines of the Bible. What would Ten- 
nyson, Longfellow, Whittier or Browning 
be if all that the Bible brought to them 
were taken away from their writings ? 
Shakespeare too was deeply indebted to 
the Bible for many of his best utterances. 
The debt of poetry to the Bible is an in- 
viting field for some writer to enter and do 
a larger work than has yet been done. 

2. Music may next claim our attention. 
While music is an ancient art, still the 
music of the ancients is not to be compared 
with that of recent centuries. Architec- 

112 



fnfluence ot tbe MUc inpon Brt 

ture, sculpture, and painting rose to a re- 
markable degree of excellence, while music 
continued undeveloped and not understood. 
It seems remarkable that so aesthetic a peo- 
ple as the ancient Greeks, who cut from 
marble perpetual models for subsequent 
ages, made practically no progress in music. 
The ancient Hebrews were among the most 
musical of those old-time peoples. David 
could so play the harp as to calm the frenzy 
of the half-insane Saul. The psalms of 
their temple worship were set to an in- 
spiring music. Their religion infused into 
their music an element not found elsewhere. 
And yet the music of Israel was not at all 
what we have in the later Christian cen- 
turies. There is one very marked and 
fundamental difference between ancient 
and modern music. The former was sim- 
ply unison or melody and knew little or 
nothing of the harmony which blends the 
different parts and gives such range and 
volume to the music of to-day. The music 
of that olden time was sweet, soothing, 
weird, and mournful, but utterly lacking 
in the rich, rounded, triumphant notes with 
which we are familiar. 

I will not say that it is historically dem- 
onstrated that the gospel taught men this 

113 



^be :fl3il)le in flQodecn TLiQht 

truer, larger, grander conception of music, 
but I will say that this change in music did 
not come till men had been taught by the 
gospel the real harmony and beauty of 
life, and it is reasonably certain that to 
the fostering care of the early churches and 
the earnest study of music to adapt it to 
the demands of Christian worship is due 
that development which led to the percep- 
tion and appreciation of harmony and to 
the marvelous progress of later years. 

The worship and service which the Bible 
has produced has given to the race a mag- 
nificent repertory of inspiring tunes, beau- 
tiful anthems, and grand oratorios unap- 
proached by anything found elsewhere. 
Think for a moment of the Christmas and 
Easter music, filled with faith, inspired 
with hope, gentle and triumphant, sweep- 
ing the whole gamut of human emotions 
from the lullaby of the cradle song to the 
hallelujah shout of the grandest victory of 
the ages. The church calls into service on 
every Lord's day tens of thousands of 
trained voices to lead hundreds of thou- 
sands in singing the praises of the God of 
the Bible, while organs of marvelous mech- 
anism and power play the richest strains 
that musical genius has ever composed. 

114 



f nfluence ot tbc JBible Tllpon Btt 

The ancients wondered why the Nile 
never failed and where the abundance of 
waters came from which transformed into 
a garden of surpassing beauty what would 
otherwise have been an arid desert. Now 
we know that it is fed by vast and inex- 
haustible inland seas. So the great stream 
of music, enlarging its borders as the years 
go by, flowing like the river of life through 
the desert of earth, comes forth from the 
throne of God fed by the boundless ocean 
of divine truth. Let the church sing on. 
The gospel is the very soul and inspiration 
of music. When the foundations of the 
earth were laid we are told **the morning 
stars sang together and all the sons of God 
shouted for joy.'* But sin entered and 
centuries of strife followed. At last the 
world's Deliverer came. When he was born 
in Bethlehem of Judea the angel choir 
sang a richer, sweeter song than that of 
the morning stars, and humanity has caught 
the strains of the new song, and the volume 
of music is increasing and will go on in- 
creasing until, as suggested in the book of 
Revelation, ** like the voice of many waters 
and like the voice of a great thunder," 
earth and heaven shall be filled with its 
hallelujahs. 

115 



XTbe Mblc in moDem Xfdbt 

3. We pass on to the consideration of 
architecture. In some of its important 
aspects architecture is not a fine art. In 
many buildings which it plans beauty is 
not the primary consideration, but rather 
strength and utility. Still every true archi- 
tect is an artist and ever seeks, even in 
the plainest structures, lines of harmony 
and beauty. Religion has always had a 
profound effect upon architecture. One 
writer, having in mind especially sculpture 
and painting, says, "Art was born in a 
temple.*' Perhaps he would have been 
nearer the truth had he said, **Art was 
born with the temple.'* At all events 
architecture as a fine art was born in man's 
attempt to erect a building for the worship 
of his God. The earliest buildings among 
all the nations making any pretension to 
architectural beauty were their temples, 
and as nations advanced in power untold 
wealth was lavished upon these structures. 
The temple of Diana at Ephesus was one of 
the seven wonders of the world, and Solo- 
mon's temple at Jerusalem was exceed- 
ingly costly and beautiful, so much so that 
the psalmist exclaimed, ** Out of Zion, the 
perfection of beauty, God hath shined." 
That beautiful temple must have had a 

116 



f nlluence ot tbe Mblc lapon Brt 

profound reflex influence upon the kind of 
houses the people built for themselves. So 
there has always been this indirect effect 
upon architecture from ecclesiastical struc- 
tures. Then, of course, as the Bible has 
furnished wholesome ideas of home life, 
it has led the people to build houses in 
harmony with the Christian conception of 
the family. 

But the most marked direct effect of our 
religion upon architecture is seen in church 
buildings. When Christianity under Con- 
stantine became the religion of the State 
church building really began. At first the 
old basilicas, the Roman halls of justice, 
were used as houses of worship and with 
some modifications these furnished the 
style of architecture for new buildings. 
Then followed the Byzantine style, the 
Romanesque, and finally the Gothic. This 
with its pointed arch, high, slender spires, 
lofty ceilings, with everything pointing up- 
ward, was a new style of architecture and 
seems to have been in some degree the 
embodiment of two ideas prominent in the 
church: (i) The upreachings and heavenly 
aspirations of God's people; (2) the state- 
liness, dignity, formalism, and severity of 
the divine service as then conceived. 

117 



^be JBiblc in fHlodetn Xigbt 

The Gothic architecture has in it an 
element of sublimity and awe, but is lack- 
ing in the warmth and nearness to God 
which belongs to the Bible. When the 
Puritans came upon the scene they went 
to the extreme of plainness. To them re- 
ligion needed none of the helps of painting, 
sculpture, or architecture and they built 
accordingly. But they missed much of the 
love of the beautiful which certainly be- 
longs to a true interpretation of the Scrip- 
tures. The Friends, breaking away from 
all formal ecclesiasticism, built their meet- 
ing-houses in the form of a simple, unpre- 
tentious dwelling-house. But there was a 
lack here of that exalted conception of 
worship so prominent in the Bible. 

Theology at the present time shows a 
marked tendency to break away from the 
legalism and formalism of what has been 
termed Latin Christianity and to return to 
the more simple, more vital views of the 
early church. What is termed the Greek 
habit of thought is receiving larger atten- 
tion. In short Christianity is becoming 
more biblical. Architecture is feeling the 
change. We seem to be in a state of great 
uncertainty as to what is the best expres- 
sion of our religious ideas. We want a 

ii8 



•ffntluence ot tbc Stble lllpon Btt 

building which will call forth all the wor- 
shipful emotions of a cathedral and which 
at the same time will express the wonder- 
ful nearness of God, the brotherhood, the 
fellowship, and the intense humanity of 
the gospel. We want a true blending of 
reverence and philanthropy, of love to God 
and love to man, of exalted worship and 
overflowing sympathy. These are not an- 
tagonistic ideas but are beautifully blended 
in the Bible and will be more and more 
united in the church architecture of the 
future. 

4. It remains for us to consider sculpture 
and painting. These may be studied to- 
gether since in their development and use 
they have always been more or less closely 
related. 

The Bible, or at least our religion, has 
been thought by some writers to have been 
hostile to this phase of art. Sculpture and 
painting attained a wonderful degree of 
perfection in ancient Greece before the 
Bible was known there. Many works of 
art were destroyed by the early iconoclasts 
in the name of religion. Savonarola in 
Florence in the latter part of the fifteenth 
century, fired with a zeal for righteousness 
and believing that the art of his day was 

119 



Zbc :Biblc in modem Xi^bt 

corrupting the people, burned many valu- 
able paintings. The English Puritans de- 
faced many of the Episcopal churches, 
seeing in the works of art which adorned 
them what they conceived to be a serious 
departure from the simple faith of the 
gospel. 

Some have misinterpreted the first com- 
mandment in the Decalogue and have made 
it teach the prohibition of the making of 
any pictures and statuary whatever, in- 
stead of confining it, as the writer mani- 
festly intended, to the making of these as 
objects of worship. Still further it has 
been claimed that the element of sorrow is 
so prominent in the gospel that it is ren- 
dered unfavorable to art. But a very cur- 
sory examination of history shows that this 
estimate of the unfavorable influence of the 
Bible upon art is incorrect. Says Chateau- 
briand, ** Step into the gallery of the Louvre 
and then assert if you can that the spirit 
of Christianity is not favorable to art." 

Savonarola was not hostile to art but 
inveighed against the prostitution of it. 
He was struck with grief and horror at the 
paganizing influence of the Medici and 
** sought to regenerate art by restoring it 
to the bosom of God." The spirit of 

120 



ITnfluence of tbe Mblc inpon Btt 

Christianity has not been so much "art 
for art's sake" as **art for God's sake** 
and for the uplifting of humanity. 

Among the ancient Hebrews sculpture 
and painting were not developed. They 
were not averse to these since the curtains 
of the temple were covered with symbolic 
figures and the "mercy-seat" was over- 
shadowed by golden cherubim and the 
great molten sea of Solomon's temple rested 
upon twelve brazen oxen and the various 
lavers were decorated with lions and oxen 
and cherubim. The approach to the ivory 
throne which Solomon made was guarded 
by twelve lions on each side, with two of 
special mention at the base of the throne. 

All of this calls attention to a most 
significant feature of Hebrew, Egyptian, 
Syrian, and Assyrian art. It was largely 
■symbolic, having winged lions, sphinxes, 
cherubim, and it made no progress. In 
Greece art got away from symbolism and 
came into living sympathy with nature. 
Space will not allow us to follow Christian 
painting from its rude beginnings in the 
Catacombs through its progress in the early 
centuries up to its marvelous achievements 
in the Middle Ages and its beautiful and 
striking features in more recent times. 

121 



ZDc Mblc in ffllodetn ILidbt 

Chateaubriand says : *' It is an easy task 
to prove three things : Firstly, that the 
Christian religion being of a spiritual, mys- 
tic nature furnishes the painter with the 
beautiful ideal more perfect and more divine 
than that which arises from material wor- 
ship. Secondly, that correcting the de- 
formity of the passions, or powerfully 
counteracting them, it gives a more sub- 
lime expression to the human countenance 
and more clearly displays the soul in the 
muscles and conformation of the body. 
Thirdly and lastly, that it has furnished 
the arts with subjects more beautiful, more 
rich, more dramatic, more pathetic than 
those of mythology." And he adds further 
on a very important thought, " Christianity 
has created a dramatic department in paint- 
ing far superior to that of mythology." 

The influence of the Bible upon painting 
and sculpture has been very noticeable in 
at least three particulars : 

(i) It has furnished a great variety of 
objects and scenes peculiarly adapted to 
the demands of art. It has dignified man- 
hood, exalted childhood, and glorified wom- 
anhood. It is a book abounding throughout 
in wonderfully dramatic scenes — scenes that 
appeal to the imagination and call forth the 

122 



ITntluence of tbe :fi3iblc THpon Brt 

genius of the artist. Recall for a moment 
some of the great works of art : ** The As- 
sumption of the Virgin," by Titian ; ** The 
Last Supper," by Leonardo; "The Trans- 
figuration," by Raphael; "The Judas 
Kiss," by Giotto; "The Glad Tidings," 
by Plockhorst ; "Among the Doctors," by 
Hoffman; "Cleansing the Temple," by 
Dore; "Christ Before Pilate," by Mun- 
kacsy ; " Moses," by Michael Angelo ; and 
hundreds of others that fill the galleries of 
the world. The Bible is the great subject 
book for the world's master artists. 

(2) But again the Bible has infused a 
spiritual factor into art beyond what any- 
thing else has done. 

These great Bible masterpieces live not 
only because of the true art which they 
display, but because of an undefinable spir- 
itual tone which they possess. Many of 
the old painters came from fasting and 
prayer to their work. Hoffman says that 
he sees in mental vision the face of the 
Christ which he paints. This spiritual ele- 
ment has been especially potent in the case 
of the Madonna and Child, and Christ. The 
Greek artists gave us their masterpieces in 
the Venus ; but beautiful as these works 
are they are wanting in the high, spirit- 

123 



Zbc JBiblc in Cllodetn Xigbt 

ual, elevating element that belongs to true 
womanhood. 

Christian artists produced the Madonna of 
the Middle Ages. Says Brace, in language 
subdued and yet permeated with artistic 
perception : ** It is the conception of the 
glorified woman whose passions, affections, 
and whole nature have been purified and 
beatified by suffering and devotion and the 
joys of heaven. It is the wife unstained by 
sin hearing in sweet humility and unspeak- 
able joy from the infinite Spirit, that she is 
to bear in her bosom the hope of the human 
race. It is the mother first looking upon the 
face of the blessed Infant, who is to be the 
joy of the whole earth. It is the beatified 
woman, rising on the rose-tinged clouds, 
every feature of the angelic face molded 
with awe and devotion and the sense of 
union with God, holding the divine Child, 
whose deep and solemn eyes seem to predict 
the career of suffering, shame, and agony 
before him ; or it is the mother bereft, bend- 
ing in pain over the lifeless form of the be- 
loved Son, but with eyes that look through 
tears to the triumph of his Spirit on the 
earth, and to a glad reunion in heaven." 

This same lofty spiritual element appears 
in the face of Christ, and is transfused 

124 



f nfluence of tbe :fBible Tllpon Brt 

throughout the works of all the true Chris- 
tian artists. 

(3) Still one thing more, the Bible has 
been an exceedingly potent factor in stirring 
up and inspiring the genius of artists. 

Of Michael Angelo it is said, '* From the 
Bible, the 'Divine Comedy,' and ascetic 
meditation he drank in the inspiration 
wherewith to ennoble human nature." 
The Bible incites the artist not only by its 
unsurpassed scenes, lofty ideals, and heroic 
personages, but also by the possibility of 
blessing humanity by their reproduction. 
It is true, therefore, as one has said, ** The 
most renowned works of the great masters 
were inspired by religion." William Ord- 
way Partridge goes so far as to say, ** There 
can be no great and enduring art without 
religion." Let me quote again briefly from 
Mr. Brace : ** Whatever is sweet in humble 
affection, whatever is beautiful in purity, or 
heroic in sacrifice, or elevated in aspiration, 
or unquenchable in hope, can be painted on 
the canvas or chiseled in marble, or built in 
imperishable stone by him who is inspired 
with Christianity's teachings." 

Cesare Cantu declares, *' The fine arts 
owe their origin to the aspirations of a faith, 
not to the mere fulfillment of a want." It 

125 



tlbc Mblc in modem Xigbt 

has been said of a great painter, "the 
greatest artist of this [the nineteenth] cen- 
tury, Millais, found the inspiration of his 
life and his consolation in the Bible.*' What 
is true of him is true of hundreds of others. 
But what of the present and what of the 
future ? Some believe that art is degen- 
erating and that the Bible is losing its in- 
fluence in this direction. There has always 
been a tendency to degrade art. Fairbairn 
says, " The divine and the devilish lie very 
close together in this world." And art de- 
signed to lift man into the divine presence 
may be employed to drag him down to ruin. 
The sirens have not yet forgotten how to 
sing. But the Bible is still stirring the souls 
of great artists. I think the future will not 
deal so much in Bible scenes as the past 
has done> but the Bible will continue to 
purify and ennoble art, and the spirit and 
ideals of Christianity will more and more 
dominate all its departments. It will paint 
not so much the Madonna, as woman ex- 
alted, purified, ennobled by the gospel. It 
will not expend its energies so much in 
portraying the face of the Christ, as the 
face of man beautified by the Christ. It 
will deal not so much with biblical scenes 
of the long ago, as with scenes to-day filled 

126 




iBtbice anD tbe 3Bible 

with the Bible. And thus art, the hand- 
maid of religion, will go on in its mission of 
joy, hope, and blessing to the race. 



IX 
£tbic0 anD tbe Mble 

HE most important questions with 
which we have to deal are ethical. 
Moral issues are everywhere fun- 
damental. Righteousness is the foundation 
of all wholesome and permanent social and 
political order. The problems which are vex- 
ing society and causing the most disturbance 
and anxiety are ethical. The controversy 
between labor and capital in its last analysis 
is simply a question of justice. What is 
right ? is the vital question everywhere. 

The Bible has a very direct bearing upon 
the questions of ethics. It claims to bring 
a message of righteousness to men. It 
purports to be a revelation of the law of 
the Lord. Is it such } What is the rela- 
tion of the Bible to ethics ? Is it on the 
side of sound moral principles, or is it de- 
fective and unsafe as a moral guide } 

In attempting to answer these questions 
we might study the influence of the Bible 

127 



TTbc :SBif)lc in (lloDetn Xigbt 

upon individual lives and upon communi- 
ties and institutions. It would not be dif- 
ficult to show that men noted for high 
moral attainments have been devout be- 
lievers in the Bible. Perhaps history fur- 
nishes no grander type of heroic moral 
character than that of the Puritans, and yet 
these same Puritans were saturated with 
Bible truth. We might enlarge upon the 
fact that the nations which stand in the 
forefront of moral power are those that 
exalt the Bible the most. 

But I do not care at this time to pursue 
this line of thought, but rather let us note 
the relation of the Bible to the fundamental 
principles of a sound morality. 

I. It is evident first of all that the basis 
of all ethics so far as man is concerned is 
freedom of will. 

If man has not the power of independent 
rational choice, he is not in any proper 
sense a moral being. There is no moral 
quality whatever in an action that does not 
come forth from a self-conscious, self-de- 
termining personality. It will be well to 
spend a little time upon this thought before 
turning to the teaching of the Bible upon 
this question. We do not speak of the 
moral quality of the action of a brute, be- 

128 



Btbica ano tbe mhlc 

cause the power of self-conscious, rational 
choice is not possessed. There is no moral 
element entering into the work of a ma- 
chine, because it acts simply as it is acted 
upon. If man does not possess freedom of 
will there is no use of our discussing ethics, 
for there is no such thing as right or wrong 
within the range of human action. 

There are two theories or views which 
deny the freedom of man and so make 
ethical distinctions, so far as he is con- 
cerned, impossible. 

The first grows out of a conception of 
God. In fact there are two conceptions 
of God which leave no place for human 
freedom. 

One is the hyper-Calvinistic, and the 
other the pantheistic. If God is such a 
sovereign that his will controls absolutely 
every act of man then man is not free, and 
what he does he cannot help, and is neither 
right nor wrong so far as he is concerned. 
It is folly to talk of duty and of what he 
ought to do, to a being who is under the 
absolute control of another. Then too, 
if pantheism is right, and if God is all, and 
man is simply a passing phase or manifesta- 
tion of God, he has no independent individ- 
uality and no moral responsibility. 
1 129 



^be 3Qib\c in fnioDecn %iQbt 

On the other hand there is an atheis- 
tic or agnostic conception of nature which 
robs man of all freedom by making him a 
helpless part and product of the cosmic 
machine. Man in every part of his be- 
ing is the resultant of the interaction of 
purely mechanical forces. The materialis- 
tic or monistic theory of evolution that has 
in it no place whatever for freedom of will. 
Haeckel in his latest utterances comes out 
boldly and unmistakably and says that the 
idea of freedom of will must be given up. 
If this is true then all moral distinctions 
must also be given up, 

For where nature rules with might, 
Whatever is, it must be right. 

But what is the position of the Bible re- 
specting freedom of will and moral respon- 
sibility .? To ask this question is to call 
attention to one of the most prominent fea- 
tures of biblical teaching. It everywhere 
lays great emphasis upon man's ability to 
choose for himself in the issues of life. It 
magnifies human responsibility. It is 
charged from first to last with the moral 
tonic of man's ability to act for himself. 

The warnings of the Bible would have 
no meaning had man no power to avoid and 

130 



JEtbicd anO tbe mblc 

forsake sin. It is because man has freedom 
of action that warning is piled upon warn- 
ing and entreaty follows entreaty. 

The Bible is a book of commands. It 
comes with the voice of authority. But 
these commands would be meaningless if 
man possessed no power to decide his con- 
duct. ** Choose ye this day whom ye will 
serve." ** To obey is better than sacrifice 
and to hearken than the fat of rams.'* 
These calls to obedience to the commands 
of God are based everywhere upon man's 
responsibility. The Bible abounds in prom- 
ises, glowing, gracious promises, but these 
promises are conditioned, and every con- 
dition implies man's freedom and ability. 

This decided, uncompromising attitude of 
the Bible respecting man's responsibility 
gives it an inestimable value in the field of 
ethics. There is a vast amount of current 
literature that encourages wrong-doing by 
weakening the sense of personal respon- 
sibility. Sin is condoned, man is repre- 
sented as the creature of heredity and en- 
vironment and only responsible to a very 
limited extent for his conduct. 

Vice finds ready victims among those 
who yield to these seductive teachings. 
But over against everything of this sort the 

131 



tTbe Mblc in tHodern %iQbt 

Bible stands with its clear, ringing appeals 
to man's moral independence and ability to 
decide and act for himself. 

II. Again it is evident that there must be 
some determining principle or principles in 
ethics. How can we know what is right 
and what is wrong ? To do right man 
must have not only ability but knowledge. 
He must have some means or tests by 
which he can determine what he ought to 
do. It is little matter if a vessel has en- 
gines capable of propelling it through the 
waters of the ocean, if it has no chart by 
which it can sail and reach the desired port. 
The great problem in ethics is to find the 
determining principles, the application of 
which will disclose the moral character of 
any given act or purpose. 

In the domain of philosophical ethics the 
various theories may be reduced to three. 
I can take time merely to outline these, and 
this I do in order to show in clearer light the 
biblical position. 

I. I mention first eudemonism. It is 
maintained by those holding this view that 
happiness is the supreme good, therefore 
whatever contributes to happiness is right, 
while that which brings unhappiness is 
wrong. 

132 



Btbicd and tbe :fBible 

This was the teaching of the old Epi- 
curean school of philosophers. Of course 
very much depends here upon one's con- 
ception of happiness. Shall we agree with 
the euthumist that happiness has chiefly to 
do with the higher spiritual joys, or shall 
we say that these belong to the realm of 
speculation, and that real happiness lies in 
the plain of sensual gratification ? It is 
evident that there is great practical diffi- 
culty here, and it is true that eudemonism 
has always tended to the lower plane. 

2. A second school is that of utilitarian- 
ism. Utility is the ultimate test. What- 
ever promotes the good of society is right, 
and what interferes with that good is wrong, 
and good is not merely happiness, but health 
and integrity and everything that belongs to 
peace, good-will, and prosperity. 

But here again there is great practical 
difficulty in the application of the principle. 
The prosperity of one class in society may 
not be the prosperity of another class. The 
good of one individual may apparently run 
counter to that of another. What seems 
good for a person to-day may turn out to 
be a real harm to him to-morrow. It is 
urged that regard must be had to the good 
of the largest number, and also not to mere 

133 



ilbe M\)lc in flilodetn Xigbt 

temporary good, but to that which is endur- 
ing. But where is the human wisdom 
that can tell what is the greatest good to 
the greatest number ? and what the per- 
manent good is in contrast with that which 
is uncertain and temporary ? I am not ar- 
guing against the principle, for it is un- 
doubtedly true that right is the most useful 
thing in this world, and right action always 
ultimately contributes to the highest good, 
but the difficulty is in the application of it. 
We do not know what the greatest good in 
given circumstances is, and could we know 
we are not sure until we experiment what 
acts will tend to secure it ; and so we are 
plunged into hopeless confusion. It is like 
guessing that a given measuring pole is ten 
feet long, and then proceeding to make foot 
measures from that guess. Everything is 
uncertain. 

3. Then there is the evolutionary con- 
ception of ethics. 

Evolution is profoundly affecting every 
department of modern thought. 

As we have already seen materialistic or 
monistic evolution, which has no place for 
anything but mechanical forces, makes an 
ethical system impossible. But there is a 
better and more scientific view of evolution 

134 



Btbfcs anD tbe JBible 

which makes God central, and has large 
place for the moral responsibility of man. 

The essential thought in evolution as it 
relates to ethics is this : there are great laws 
of unfolding and development running all 
through creation, and every organism has 
its own laws of growth. Right is con- 
formity to these laws, wrong is the viola- 
tion of them. Here again we unquestion- 
ably have a true principle, and it is not 
without much value, but there is serious 
difficulty in its application, especially when 
the higher questions of life and duty are 
reached. 

But leaving these various views, each 
containing an important element of truth, 
we turn to the Bible to see what position it 
takes upon this fundamental problem in 
ethics. It teaches that God is the source 
of all moral distinctions. *' The law of the 
Lord is perfect." His will is fundamental 
in all things. What he commands is right, 
what he forbids is wrong. Right and wrong 
are what they are, because God is what he 
is. The primary question of those who 
heartily accept the Bible is not, "Will this 
act bring happiness ? " or ** Will it bring the 
greatest good to the greatest number .? " or 
** Is it in conformity with the laws of my 

135 



tlbe JBible in flRo^ctn Xiflbt 

being and of human progress ? " but, " Is 
it in accord with the will of God ? '* If it 
is, then it will bring all these other things, 
but if not it will bring none of them. ** Seek 
ye first the kingdom of God and his right- 
eousness, and all these things shall be 
added unto you.'* 

An act is not right because it brings hap- 
piness, but it brings happiness because it 
is right. It is not right because it brings 
the greatest good, but it brings such good 
because it is right. Such is the central 
thought of biblical ethics. God is right and 
so far as man knows God he knows what 
is right. The Bible is a progressive revela- 
tion of God. It begins far back on the bor- 
der lands of polytheism and paganism and 
advances step by step and stage by stage 
until the culmination is reached in Him who 
said, ** He that hath seen me hath seen the 
Father.** If, then, you ask after the ethical 
code or teachings of the Bible, you must go 
not to the age of partial and imperfect 
understanding of God in the Old Testa- 
ment times, but to the fullness of revelation 
in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. 
Here is found the solution of many trou- 
blesome questions in the ethical teachings 
of the Old Testament. 

136 



letbice anD tbe :JBiblc 

What shall we say of the polygamy, the 
slavery, the wars of extermination which 
were indorsed in those olden times ? 

1. We will say, first of all, that these 
things have disappeared under the influence 
of the fuller light of the revelation of God 
in the gospel. No one can see the Father 
as he is here revealed, and grasp in its full- 
ness the truths of love and brotherhood here 
made known, and then go out to defend 
polygamy and slavery, and wars of ex- 
termination ; and I insist that however we 
explain that old past, the ethics of the 
Bible grounded in the character of God 
must be judged by the fruitage and fullness 
found in Jesus Christ. 

2. But something must be said about 
these moral defects of the Old Testament. 
When I say moral defects I employ the 
expression from the standpoint of twenty 
centuries of Christian teaching and influ- 
ence in the world. 

Two different explanations are given of 
the biblical indorsement of these things. 
It is urged by some that God never in- 
dorsed them. The people had only grasped 
a few of the fundamental truths respecting 
God. They understood his unity and om- 
nipotence and some of the great moral at- 

137 



Zhc JBMc in jflbo^etn Xigbt 

tributes of his character as revealed in the 
Ten Commandments, but misunderstood 
him on many other things and thought he 
indorsed what he did not, and their ignorance 
and mistakes could not be removed except 
through years of discipline and training. 

Another view is that while right in the 
abstract is unchangeable, still human re- 
sponsibility is very changeable, dependent 
upon knowledge, moral ability, and many 
other things. Hence to men things may 
be right at one time which are utterly 
wrong at another time. Christ declares 
that Moses because of the hardness of their 
hearts permitted loose divorce. This prin- 
ciple faithfully applied, greatly relieves 
these Old Testament problems without in 
any way lowering the high standards of the 
New Testament. 

The character of God is the biblical basis 
of ethics and this character finds its full 
revelation for all practical purposes in Jesus 
Christ. 

III. One more vital question in ethics is 
that of the enforcement of moral demands. 
It is not enough for men to know the right, 
there must also be sufficient incentive to 
do it. Here is the fatal weakness of many 
ethical schemes ; they are beautiful, but 

138 



Btbics anO tbe Bible 

they lack practical appeal to men. In this 
matter the Bible is especially strong. It 
makes a powerful appeal for the enforce- 
ment of its demands. And yet the work 
of the Bible is not so much to furnish new 
incentives for right conduct, as to give new 
direction and new strength to those already 
existing. 

All incentives belong to two classes, those 
relating to self-interest, and those that re- 
late to others. Each of these calls for 
special consideration in our present study. 

I. Self-interest is perfectly legitimate 
within proper limitations. The eudemonist 
says, " Do right that you may be happy." 
There is certainly nothing wrong in de- 
siring happiness, and in putting forth 
effort to secure it. But when the pursuit 
of happiness degenerates into mere pleas- 
ure-seeking and personal gratification, then 
it becomes an evil. 

The utilitarian says, ** Do good in order 
that you may be prospered and profited in 
life." Here again the end sought may be 
entirely proper and the efforts put forth en- 
tirely worthy, but if a sordid ambition takes 
control, then evil follows. 

And yet there is a perfectly legitimate 
field of self-interest. The Bible strongly 

139 



XLbc Mblc in moDern Xf^bt 

appeals to this proper regard for the wel- 
fare of self, (i) Wrong-doing and wrong- 
being bring evil results. It requires no 
divine revelation to prove this. ** Whatso- 
ever a man soweth, that shall he also 
reap,** is a truth of well-nigh universal rec- 
ognition. But the Bible greatly re-enforces 
this truth by placing back of it an allwise, 
holy, and omnipotent Ruler who hates sin 
and who will enforce his righteous laws. 
** Righteousness and judgment are the foun- 
dation of thy throne '* (Ps. 89 : 14). There 
is a stern side to the divine law calculated 
to make trangressors tremble. ** Judgment 
also will I lay to the line, and righteousness 
to the plummet : and the hail shall sweep 
away the refuge of lies, and the waters 
shall overflow the hiding place'* (Isa. 28 : 
17). The Bible represents many judgments 
as falling upon sin here and now, but this 
is not the end. *' It is appointed unto men 
once to die and after this the judgment.** 
The results of wrong-doing reach on into 
the life to come, and there is a wretched 
fruitage there. Such in brief, is the bibli- 
cal appeal of warning against sin. It is not 
an appeal to fear but for a faithful facing of 
the facts that a just God reigns and sin must 
receive adequate punishment. 

140 



Btbicd and tbe mblc 

(2) On the other hand, the Bible makes 
a powerful appeal in the fact that righteous- 
ness shall be rewarded. Speaking of the 
requirements of the Lord the psalmist de- 
clares, '* Moreover by them is thy servant 
warned ; and in keeping of them there is 
great reward " (Ps. 19 : 11). But the re- 
wards of righteousness as presented in the 
Bible, are in no sense an attempt to hire or 
bribe men to be good. They are not a com- 
mercial quid pro quo. They are compared 
to the rewards of the husbandman who 
plants good seed, cultivates the soil, and 
reaps an abundant harvest. Nature does 
not hire the farmer to do good work. She 
simply holds forth the possible attainments 
for him who will obey her laws. So the 
rewards of the Bible are presented as the 
gracious possibilities for him who will obey 
the law of the Lord. These rewards are 
blessed results here in this present life, and 
a glorious consummation in the life beyond, 
for ** Godliness is profitable unto all things 
having a promise of the life that now is and 
of that which is to come." Such, then, in 
brief, in its warnings and rewards, is the 
matchless appeal which the Bible makes 
to the self-interest of men to lead them 
to do right. 

141 



^be Mblc in modem Xigbt 

2. But the most potent appeal which the 
Bible makes for the right is the altruistic. 
Not for self, to escape punishment or to se- 
cure reward, but for God and humanity is 
the supreme call of the gospel. ** Whoso- 
ever will save his life shall lose it, but who- 
soever will lose his life for my sake and the 
gospel's the same shall save it.*' Self- 
interest, though right, must always be sub- 
ordinated to the larger interests of human- 
ity. But why should I be interested in 
helping others ? Why should I do right for 
their sake ? Two biblical reasons suggest 
themselves. 

(i) The first is my relation to them, or 
brotherhood. Humanity is one great bro- 
therhood, a family ; all will readily admit 
this, and yet it is a truth which needs to be 
made real and potent to the minds and 
hearts of men. To the extent that this 
vital truth takes hold of a man it leads him 
out of himself into noble service for others. 
The Bible lays great emphasis upon this 
truth of brotherhood. It reveals in clear 
light the everlasting Father, and so pro- 
claims the essential solidarity of the race. 
The new social consciousness so called is 
simply the better apprehension of the 
brotherhood taught by Christ ; and the 

142 



I5tbicd anD tbe iBible 

kingdom of God is the practical application 
of this great fundamental principle. 

(2) The other reason is summed up in 
the word gratitude. We work for others 
because our hearts have been opened and 
enlarged by work done for us. I have 
spoken of the justice of God, let me now 
speak of his mercy. All through the Bible 
like a vast, warm gulf stream of life, there 
runs the increasing current of divine mercy. 
** The Lord God merciful and gracious, 
longsuffering, and abundant in goodness 
and truth keeping mercy for thousands, 
forgiving iniquity and transgression and 
sin '* (Exod. 34 : 6). Such was the stream 
away back at the beginning of Israel's 
history, and it swept on until ** God so 
loved the world that he gave his only be- 
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
him might not perish, but have everlasting 
life." I am not now discussing the theo- 
logical bearings of all these matters, but 
simply trying to present a fair statement of 
the biblical appeal to man. The one who 
accepts this mercy of God and believes 
that forgiveness and life everlasting are 
his, is at once profoundly stirred to help 
others. He is ready to forget himself in 
order to benefit humanity, and give expres- 

143 



XTbe :fl3ible in modern Xigbt 

sion to the gratitude which fills his heart. 
Thus the Bible by its strong appeal to true 
self-interest, and by its exaltation of altru- 
ism, stirs the heart of man as no other 
agency has ever done for the overthrow of 
the forces of evil, and for the maintenance 
of high and worthv ethical standards. 




XLbc :Biblc and 'Moman 

OMAN is most intimately connected 
both with the degradation and the 
elevation of the race. She is a 
strong ally of the forces that debase and 
destroy, and is the very heart of the insti- 
tutions that ennoble and save. The status 
of woman in any community or country is 
a sure index of the condition of society. 

The Bible, dealing as it does with the 
moral and spiritual forces of life, must have 
direct relation to the position and needs of 
woman. What has the Bible done for, and 
what are its teachings respecting woman ? 
are the questions proposed for consideration 
at this time. Our inquiry will take us 
along three lines of investigation. 
The influence of the Bible upon woman's 
144 



Zbc JBible and IQloman 

condition as seen in the changes wrought 
by the acceptance of its teachings ; a sur- 
vey of the general teachings of the Scrip- 
ture respecting woman ; and a consideration 
of some specific questions bearing upon the 
subject. Each of these opens up a very 
large field for study. We shall be com- 
pelled to content ourselves with a some- 
what hasty survey, where we would find 
it exceedingly interesting to tarry for ex- 
tended investigation. 

I. Our first inquiry, then, will be as to 
the influence upon woman's condition of the 
acceptance of the teachings of the Bible. 

We find very striking evidence of this 
both in earlier and also in later times. The 
former in the spread of Christianity over 
the Roman empire and a little later among 
the Teutonic peoples, and the latter in the 
conquests in modern times in pagan and 
semi-pagan nations. 

I. Let us spend a little time first in not- 
ing the changes in the position of woman 
incident to the early work of Christianity. 
Under the older Roman law woman was 
subject to the perpetual tutelage of her 
male relations, her father, brothers, or hus- 
band. She had no independence, no prop- 
erty rights, and no standing before the 
K 145 



Zbc Bible in nnodetn Xigbt 

law. In fact her husband possessed the 
right to punish and even to put her to 
death. But later there was a revolt against 
these extreme views, and ** free marriage " 
was recognized. This was simply a civil 
contract in which the woman remained 
practically independent of her husband, an 
arrangement that could be terminated upon 
the wish of either party. Of course a cus- 
tom like this resulted in unspeakable degra- 
dation. Many writers have undertaken to 
show the awful condition of society when 
Christianity began its conquests. 

Few have given more careful study to 
this whole period and are more competent 
to speak than Dr. John Lord. I will quote 
at length from him : ** Woman was miser- 
ably educated, being taught by a slave or 
some Greek chambermaid, accustomed to 
ribald conversation, and fed with idle tales 
and silly superstitions ; she was regarded 
as more vicious in natural inclination than 
man, and was chiefly valued for household 
labors ; she was reduced to dependence ; 
she saw but little of her brothers or rela- 
tions ; she was confined to her home as if 
it were a prison ; she was guarded by 
eunuchs and female slaves ; she was given 
in marriage without her consent; she could 

146 



XLbc MUc an^ TlCloman 

be easily divorced ; she was valued only as 
a domestic servant, or as an animal to pre- 
vent the extinction of families ; she was 
regarded as the inferior of her husband, to 
whom she was a victim, a toy, or a slave. 
Her amusements were frivolous, her tastes 
vitiated, her education neglected, her rights 
violated, her sympathy despised, her aspi- 
rations scorned. Courtesans usurped the 
privileges of wives with unblushing effron- 
tery. A man was derided who contem- 
plated matrimony, for there was but little 
confidence in female virtue or capacity, and 
woman lost all her fascination when age 
had destroyed her beauty.'* But I need 
not quote farther from this gifted writer. 

Juvenal's Satires may be overdrawn, yet 
they undoubtedly reflect the sentiment of 
his times. He wrote : 

Women in judgment weak, in feeling strong, 
By every gust of passion borne along. 
To a fond spouse a wife no mercy shows ; 
Though warmed with equal fires she mocks his 

woes 
And triumphs in his spoils ; her wayward will 
Defeats his bliss and turns his good to ill. 

There was everywhere a concealed or 
half-concealed contempt for women, which 
found expression in a thousand ways which 

147 



^be Mblc in modern Uigbt 

were belittling and degrading to woman- 
hood. 

At the present time divorce is alarmingly 
common in our country and the American 
people may well be aroused to find some 
means for stopping this growing evil, but 
the depth to which Roman society sank 
was unspeakably worse. Seneca speaks 
of ** daily divorces/' and refers to ** noble- 
born women who reckon their years not 
by the number of the consuls, but by that 
of their husbands." And Juvenal tells of 
a woman who had eight husbands in five 
years. Marriage became little more than 
a farce and unspeakable demoralization pre- 
vailed. Says a competent writer : ** The 
Greek, and more particularly the Latin 
literature, is filled with traces of vices which 
have utterly passed out of memory in the 
Christian world.*' Into this ancient world 
of moral deformity and degradation Chris- 
tianity came, and its effect upon the posi- 
tion of woman was noticeable at once. 
Everywhere the Christians took a decided 
and uncompromising stand against those 
vices which were destroying family life and 
blighting the nobler virtues of manhood and 
womanhood. The influence of the new 
faith soon reached the laws respecting mar- 

148 



Zbc JBiblc and Moman 

riage and divorce, and while these earlier 
enactments are far from perfect they reveal 
an earnest effort to correct the shameful 
abuses which prevailed. Constantine as 
early as A. D. 331 sought to improve the 
divorce laws. It was enacted that a wife 
could put away her husband if he was a 
murderer, a magician, or a violator of tombs ; 
and the husband could put away the wife 
if she was adulterous or given to evil prac- 
tices. Other laws followed recognizing the 
equality of husband and wife, prohibiting 
concubinage, and making adultery punish- 
able by death. Under subsequent emper- 
ors there were lapses to former practices, 
but an ever-present evidence of a new force 
working for the elevation of woman. 

Attention has often been called to the 
high position held by woman among the 
old Teutonic tribes to the north of Rome, 
before the introduction of Christianity. 
Tacitus gives us many glimpses of the 
purity of life there in striking contrast with 
conditions in Rome. It is quite possible 
that he has overdrawn the picture some- 
what through imperfect knowledge, and a 
desire to shame his own people. Still it is 
unquestionably true that those ancient Ger- 
manic peoples in their respect for woman 

149 



Zbc Ml)lc in flQoDem Xigbt 

furnish a marked exception among pagan 
and non-Christian peoples, both ancient 
and modern, and yet, while they are to be 
commended for the purity which prevailed, 
polygamy existed and the husband was the 
absolute lord over his wife, and she was in 
some degree regarded as his property, pos- 
sessing a certain money value. The great 
work of Christianity among these barbarous 
yet vigorous peoples was the preserving in- 
fluence it created as they came into contact 
with Roman vices, and the still further ex- 
alting of woman to an equality with man. 

Mr. Charles Loring Brace after a thorough 
consideration of this whole subject of the 
effect upon woman's position of the early in- 
troduction of Christianity says : ** The con- 
clusion may fairly be that the modern social 
and legal position of woman, while it owes 
much to ancient German customs, has been 
far more influenced by the estimate set upon 
woman and marriage by the Christian doc- 
trine." He adds : ** Christianity, it will be 
seen, has done away with tutelage, at least 
in central Europe, has elevated marriage 
from the idea of a purchase to that of a 
spiritual and bodily union ; it has protected 
woman by everywhere encouraging the 
dower ; it has sought to make her in its 

150 



^be :fl3ible and Moman 

own fields the equal to man ; and through 
its influence more than any other, has the 
proprietary and personal independence of 
woman been advanced throughout Europe 
and the Christian world. This has been 
one of the most important contributions of 
the religion of Jesus to the progress of the 
race. Its effects are to be felt through all 
succeeding ages.'* 

2. But the effect of Christianity in im- 
proving the condition of woman is very 
noticeable in the mission fields of the pres- 
ent time. Volumes would be required to 
describe the pitiable and wretched condition 
of the women of the Orient. Sir Henry 
Maine in speaking of the law of the Hindus 
says that it is characterized by " its exces- 
sive harshness to the personal and proprie- 
tary liberty of women.*' 

Mr, Brace writes : '*The laws of Manu 
assign her a very inferior rank. The wife 
is permitted to be sold or beaten ; she is 
spoken of as having no will of her own, and 
as unfit for independence ; a husband must 
constantly be revered as a god by a virtuous 
wife. No sacrifice is allowed to women 
apart from their husbands, no religious rites, 
no fastings.** An ancient Hindu writing 
declares, ** In infancy the father should 

151 



Zbc Mblc in fHlodetn Xfgbt 

guard her, in youth her husband, and in old 
age her children, for at no time is a woman 
fit to be trusted with liberty. Infidelity, 
violence, deceit, envy, extravagance, a total 
want of good qualities, with impurity, are 
the innate faults of women/' Out of such 
ideas have come the miserable condition of 
ignorance and dependence of the women of 
India. The Zenana with its abominations 
is an outgrowth of polygamy coupled with 
the idea of the depravity of woman. The 
teachings of Confucius respecting woman 
are based upon this same idea of her es- 
sential inferiority, and the women of China 
are ignorant and degraded, and regarded as 
practically having no souls. In Moham- 
medan countries still worse conditions if 
possible exist. The harem is a moral pest 
house. Woman everywhere in the coun- 
tries of the Koran is an ignorant, unhappy, 
oppressed slave, with no rights which man 
is bound to respect. Wherever Christianity 
makes progress in any of these countries 
woman at once comes out into a new ex- 
perience and a new conception of life. She 
comes into a sense of personal responsi- 
bility to God. She becomes the companion 
and counselor of her husband and the pro- 
moter of the welfare of society. 

152 



;rbe SiDIe and Woman 

What can be more pathetic than this 
appeal from Ramabai, a converted high 
caste Hindu woman: *'Will you not think 
of these my countrywomen, and rise moved 
by a common impulse to free them from 
lifelong slavery and infernal misery ? I 
beg you, friends and benefactors and edu- 
cators and philanthropists, all who have 
any interest in or compassion for your fel- 
low-creatures, let the cry of India's daugh- 
ters, feeble though it be, reach your ears 
and stir your hearts. In the name of hu- 
manity, in the name of your sacred re- 
sponsibility as workers in the cause of hu- 
manity, and above all in the most holy 
name of God, I summon you, true women 
and men of America, to bestow your help 
quickly, regardless of nation, caste, or 
creed." Such is the cry of one of India's 
-own daughters who knows what the gospel 
can do for her suffering sisters, and who is 
giving her own life for their deliverance. 

II. But from this general survey of the 
influence of Christianity we come to in- 
quire into the teachings of the Scriptures 
which have contributed to these results. 

Some have insisted that the changed and 
changing position of woman has been and 
is due to the general development of the 

153 



Zbc Mblc in Cllodetn Xigbt 

race, and not to any direct influence of the 
Bible. In fact it has been claimed that the 
Bible has really seriously impeded the eman- 
cipation of woman. And yet it must be 
admitted that wherever the religion of the 
Bible made conquests in the ancient world, 
and wherever it is subduing paganism and 
semi-civilized peoples to-day one of the first 
and most manifest effects has been and is 
the elevation of woman. The Koran does 
not do this. The Book of Mormon has no 
such fruit. There must be something in 
the Bible which contributes to this result. 
In seeking this we must not make the mis- 
take of fixing our attention upon the evi- 
dence of the existence, to some extent, 
among the Jewish people and early Chris- 
tians of unwholesome pagan customs, but 
we must look rather to the great underly- 
ing principles found in the Bible. There 
are three of these which I can do little more 
than take time to state. 

I. The Bible teaches the essential equal- 
ity of man and woman. 

They are not the same ; they have dif- 
ferent characteristics and endowments but 
they are essentially equal. Interpret the 
account of woman's creation as you may, 
regard it as literal history, or as a parabolic 

154 



Zbc JBiblc and IRIloman 

setting forth of great truth, the fact remains 
that the record has stood there for ages as 
a divine proclamation to untold thousands 
of the equality of man and woman. "And 
God said let us make man in our own im- 
age, after our likeness. And God created 
man in his own image, in the image of God 
created he him, male and female created he 
them." There they stand together in the 
image of God. There is no place here for 
the inferiority of woman. Later she is called 
the ** helpmeet " for man; not his slave, 
not his subordinate, but his helper, adapted 
to him. Some may ridicule what they term 
the **rib story*' of woman, and yet that 
same story has had a profound influence 
over thousands of minds in exalting woman 
as a very part of man, and as created to 
stand by his side in true companionship and 
fellowship in life's duties. When Christ 
came he passed over the weary centuries of 
sin and slow progress and carried the mind 
back, and said, " Have ye not read that he 
which made them from the beginning made 
them male and female? " He fixed the 
thought upon that far-off scene of equality. 
And in all his work there was toward wo- 
man an attitude in perfect harmony with 
that beautiful vision of creation. 

155 



XLbc :Bil)lc in tiloDern Xidbt 

There was something so pure, so unaf- 
fected, so inspiring, so human, so divine in 
Christ's relation to woman, that vice be- 
came hateful in his presence, unclean- 
ness repugnant, and the true nobility and 
equality of manhood and womanhood were 
instinctively felt. It cannot be put into 
formulated statements, it cannot be fully 
explained, but this benign influence of Je- 
sus has come down the centuries restoring 
more and more the divine conception of 
the position of man and woman in their re- 
lations to each other. 

The Apostle Paul was under the inspira- 
tion of this influence when he wrote, 
*' where there is neither male nor female, 
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.'* The 
great curse of the pagan world has been 
the belief in the inferiority of woman. Over 
against this the Bible has come with its far- 
reaching and marvelously potent principle 
of the essential equality of the sexes. 

2. Another principle central in biblical 
teaching is the value of virtue. 

Pagan temples have been surrounded by 
the orgies of lust, and maintained by the 
worse than human sacrifice of maidens. 
Woman degraded to an inferior position has 
been despised and her virtue ridiculed. The 

156 



XLbc Mblc anD llllloman 

gods of the ancients were often monsters 
of vice, and paganism to-day is filled with 
shame. But the Bible strikes a high note 
upon this subject. The voice amid the 
thunders of Sinai was imperative, and the 
seventh commandment has sounded down 
the ages with a clearness unmistakable and 
an authority that thousands have not dared 
to disregard. And the love that comes 
forth with such fragrance and charm in the 
Christian revelation is forever against all 
that is low and vile. As the rays of the 
rising sun are against the poisonous mists 
which have crept over the landscape during 
the night time, so the love of the gospel 
dispels the miasma of vice which spreads 
over the fairest fields of life. 

3. Another feature of biblical teaching is 
the sacredness of marriage and as growing 
out of this the permanency and value of 
the family. 

Here again the scene at the beginning is 
peculiarly significant. The first two were 
joined by God himself in a union of sacred 
intimacy, mutual dependence and helpful- 
ness and essential equality. In the case of 
Noah and his sons, there seems to have 
been a maintenance of the original idea of 
marriage. And during the subsequent cen- 

157 



XLbc SBiblc in modern Xi^bt 

turies, however much the Israelites may 
have departed from this in some particulars, 
still they ever retained something of the 
exalted character of true marriage, and 
made their family life one of the brightest 
features of their history. 

Christ re-emphasized the sacredness of 
marriage by restating its original meaning 
and law, and elevating woman to her true 
position by the side of man. Not fully yet 
have the Christian principles of marriage 
become established, but the work of eman- 
cipation goes on, and old customs are fall- 
ing away and the great underlying biblical 
principles are being recognized. 

This discussion, however, would not be 
complete without the consideration of a few 
specific questions in which some suppose 
the biblical teachings are unfavorable to 
woman. 

We can take time to note but three of 
these, and possibly we need to consider no 
more as these cover practically the whole 
ground. 

I. We will mention first the subordina- 
tion of woman. I do not refer to the essen- 
tial inferiority of woman, for we have al- 
ready agreed that the Bible does not teach 
this. But does not the Bible teach that 

158 



tibe :iBible and TIQloman 

woman occupies a subordinate place and 
that she is to be the servant of man ? And 
does not this degrade woman and stand in 
the way of her larger growth ? I need not 
take time to quote the declarations in refer- 
ence to women's keeping silence in the 
churches, and learning at home of their 
husbands, and obeying their husbands. 
These are all familiar. There are two fac- 
tors in the Bible which must always be 
taken into the account in fairly interpreting 
it. One is custom, the other is principle. 
The Bible is a progressive revelation, that 
is, we have the progressive work of truth 
in dealing with erroneous and defective 
customs. Hence we find constant conces- 
sions to existing conditions, while there are 
at the same time the inculcation and growth 
of the true principles. Christ recognized 
this when he said ** Moses because of the 
hardness of your hearts suffered you to 
put away your wives." Now the great 
principle is essential equality of the sexes. 
But customs were such that this could not 
be made operative at once. And so we 
find a gradual work ; and the supposed 
teaching of the subordination of woman is 
simply a concession for the time to customs 
which could not be broken with immedi- 

159 



^be Xiblc in modern Xigbt 

ately without misunderstanding and harm. 
As the far-reaching underlying principles of 
the gospel prevail these customs naturally 
disappear. 

2. Another point of importance is the in- 
feriority of the marriage state. There 
grew up early in the Christian centuries a 
belief that the highest sanctity was to be 
attained in celibacy. And tens of thou- 
sands turned their backs upon home and 
family life and took vows not to marry. I 
shall not enter into the history of that 
movement. But it is well known that 
great harm came to society through it. 
Any movement that belittles the marriage 
estate and family life is hostile to the high- 
est interests of woman. 

But does the Bible teach that marriage is 
an inferior state in reference to sanctity ? 
** It is not good for man to be alone ** is the 
first great utterance upon this subject. 
All through the Israelitish period there is no 
trace of the exaltation of celibacy. Christ 
had nothing of the ascetic about him, and 
one of his first notable works was to glad- 
den a marriage occasion. He loved the 
children, blessed them, and said, *' Of such 
is the kingdom of heaven.*' Paul wrote 
in a few instances commendatory of the 

i6o 



XLbc JBible anO Moman 

unmarried state, but simply in recognition 
of the peculiar stress of the times, and 
possibly with the thought that in the work 
of the kingdom some would have to forego 
the privilege of marriage, but certainly with 
no thought of discouraging marriage, for he 
himself wrote, '* Let marriage be honorable 
in all." 

3. One more question is that of polyg- 
amy. This has been one of the greatest 
curses of womanhood and of manhood as 
well. To-day it is the blight of pagan 
and semi-civilized nations and in our own 
country it is gaining a foothold which 
may well cause alarm. Does the Bible 
favor polygamy ? The Mormons and some 
others say ** Yes.'* Abraham, Jacob, 
David, Solomon, all were polygamists. 
The Mosaic law recognizes and in some 
degree favors polygamy. We need not 
take time to quote passages. What shall 
we say to this ? Simply what Jesus said 
upon the matter of divorce. *' Have ye 
not read that he which made them at the 
beginning made them male and female, and 
said for this cause shall a man leave father 
and mother and shall cleave to his wife 
and they twain shall be one flesh ? " Not 
they half dozen but they twain. The 
L 161 



^be Mblc in Vtlobcm Xigbt 

original law of marriage is one man and one 
woman. The gospel is a call for the recog- 
nition of this great principle. The Mosaic 
law nowhere commands or requires po- 
lygamy, but lays restrictions and regula- 
tions upon it calculated in some degree to 
reduce its evils. In the presence of the 
higher truths of revealed religion, polygamy 
gradually disappeared among the Jews 
until in the time of Christ it had practically 
ceased among the common people and has 
never had any standing in the Christian 
church. The Bible interpreted in its larger 
meaning, and in the light of the consum- 
mation of revelation in the gospel is the 
undoubted foe of polygamy, and teaches a 
standard of life that can never be main- 
tained in a polygamous society. 

Let me conclude with a quotation from the 
late lamented and gifted Doctor Barrows. 
He made, as you will remember, a tour of 
the Orient and was special lecturer in India. 
After his return he wrote : *' Where, out- 
side of the area which is blessed by the 
Bible, will you find true honor and high 
privilege granted to womanhood ? The 
greatest of all emancipations, that by which 
Christian ideals of the family have super- 
seded the non-Christian, whether savage 

162 




XLbc BDucativc Daluc of :©ible StuOs 

or civilized, is co-extensive with tlie influ- 
ence of the Christian Scriptures.'* 



XI 
tibc J6t)ucative IDalue of JSSible StuD^ 

HIS is an educational age. From 
the work of the kindergarten to 
that of the university the most 
careful attention is being given to every 
phase of training and development. 

Education is seen to involve principles 
which must be carefully adhered to and 
faithfully wrought out if satisfactory results 
are to be secured. Thoroughly scientific 
methods, therefore, are being evolved and 
adopted. We may feel sometimes that our 
schools are being overloaded with scientific 
theories and that educators are in danger 
of being carried away with mere conceits 
and fancies. Undoubtedly there have been 
occasions for justifiable complaint, and yet 
the fact remains that we are in the midst 
of great progress in the educative world. 

A very significant feature in this wide- 
spread educational development is a grow- 
ing feeling, finding expression in conven- 
tions and educational articles, that religion 

163 



XLbc Mblc in flQoDern Xidbt 

and the Bible must in some way have a 
larger place in the work of education. 
There is a reaction from mere secularism in 
our schools. No one can now foresee just 
what the outcome of this agitation will be. 
This much, however, is certain, it will tend 
to set in clearer light the great educative 
value of Bible study. It is no small part of 
the work of educators to determine the 
relative value of different branches of study. 
They are agreed that there are three prin- 
ciples which are determinative in fixing the 
value of studies : 

There must be mental discipline and de- 
velopment, useful information, and incen- 
tive to worthy action. 

Not only must no one of these be left 
out, but each must have its full recognition 
in any proper educative scheme. Tested 
by these three principles, what is the value 
of Bible study ? 

I. We will first consider the value of 
Bible study for mental development and 
discipline. In training the mind attention 
must be given to the memory, the imagina- 
tion, and the reasoning power. 

Before taking these up separately it may 
be said, in general, that no other book has 
had such a profound effect upon the mental 

164 



Zbc j6Ducatlve Dalue ot JBible StuDg 

life of the world as the Bible. Wherever 
it has gone it has marvelously aroused the 
mental activities and has promoted the in- 
tellectual growth of the people. 

1. But note the relation of Bible study 
to the cultivation of the memory. The 
Bible has been memorized as no other book 
has ever been. The importance attaching 
to its statements has led to the treasuring 
of them in the exact form in which they 
are given. Its promises, precepts, and 
warnings have been committed to memory 
because of their constant value. Its inter- 
esting stories and remarkable history appeal 
to childhood and have been stamped indeli- 
bly upon the memory of countless genera- 
tions. As a mere educative expedient, the 
work of memorizing the Scriptures has been 
of very great value and its decline should 
be regarded as a real loss to the work of 
mental development. 

2. Then too, the Bible makes a most 
helpful appeal to the imagination. When 
we speak of the imagination, there are 
those who suppose that we refer to that 
which is fanciful and unreal and to some- 
thing to be repressed rather than cultivated. 
But the imagination is a noble faculty and 
is fraught with large possibilities for happi- 

165 



Zbc Mblc in fHloDem TLiQbt 

ness and for good. It is the power of 
bringing scenes before the mind, of forming 
mental pictures, of reproducing, or of cre- 
ating mental images. The imagination may 
deal with worthy or unworthy objects. 
Like art it may ennoble or degrade. Many 
works of fiction have an unwholesome in- 
fluence because of the appeal which they 
make to the imagination. They vividly 
portray scenes and situations which, if not 
actually immoral are at least questionable. 
True education cultivates the imagination 
by the presentation of ennobling objects. 

The Bible, lying in the realm of religion, 
dealing with dramatic historic scenes, re- 
markable events, and great personages, as 
well as with the deepest longings, hopes, 
and fears of the heart, makes a most pow- 
erful appeal to the imagination. No one 
can study the Bible without living over 
again the scenes of those olden days and 
feeling the presence of the heroes of faith. 
It is a worthy and inspiring exercise of the 
imagination. Then too, as the Bible leads 
the thought out into the unseen world and 
presents visions of the life eternal, it calls 
upon the imagination to take its loftiest and 
most inspiring flights in trying to grasp the 
glories of the world beyond. 

i66 



trbe lEDucative \Daluc ot JBtblc StuJjg 

3. When we come to the reasoning pow- 
ers of the mind, the logical faculty, the 
Bible meets us with the strongest appeals 
possible. ** Come let us reason together, 
saith the Lord." It deals with the great 
problems of existence, those topics which 
come fresh to every generation and which 
have ever challenged the deepest thought 
of the greatest minds. There are books 
which require no exercise of the reasoning 
powers, just a little exercise of the memory 
and play of the imagination, but nothing 
else ; but the Bible is packed with great 
truths and no one can study it without 
having his reasoning faculty aroused. It 
demands thought. It has been urged by 
some that the Bible, claiming to be a reve- 
lation of truth, represses thought, that it is 
designed to relieve men of the necessity of 
investigating and reasoning by furnishing 
them a ready-made revelation of all needful 
truth. As well talk of the telescope's 
making it no longer necessary for the as- 
tronomer to think as to urge the idea that 
a divine revelation is unfavorable to the 
development of the reasoning powers of 
man. The fact is, revelation in the Bible 
is like revelation in nature, not exhaustive, 
but simply suggestive, directive, and in- 

167 



Z\)c aiSible tn flloDern Xisbt 

citive. The great point in education is to 
teach men to think and reason for them- 
selves. A person who has not been taught 
to reason is not educated, no matter how 
far he may have gone in the schools. I 
insist that Bible study, not catechetical, 
not ecclesiastical study, but Bible study is 
peculiarly calculated to stir up thought and 
lead to the exercise of reason. 

Thus the Bible by its appeal to the 
memory, to the imagination, and to the 
reason is of great value as an educative 
agency in securing a large and well-rounded 
mental development. 

II. But what is the relation of the Bible 
to the principle that education must furnish 
helpful information ? There is a sharp and 
unsettled controversy in the educational 
world. It relates to this question of utility. 
Some insist that the controlling thought in 
education must be mental discipline, others 
that it must be the acquisition of practical 
knowledge. The former lay great emphasis 
upon the value of classical studies, while 
the latter would taboo these entirely and 
place the emphasis upon the sciences and 
upon special business and professional 
studies. It is undoubtedly true that there 
is a growing belief in the idea that one can 

i68 



XLbc E&ucative \Dalue of JBiblc Stu^ig 

secure mental discipline in the acquisition 
of useful information, and in our schools 
increased emphasis is being placed upon the 
practical aspects of education. But without 
going into the merits of this controversy it 
is certain that Bible study in a striking way 
combines the two ideas. It furnishes, as 
we have seen, a remarkable mental disci- 
pline and at the same time supplies a vast 
amount of practical information. 

1. It abounds, first of all, in information 
concerning God. There is nothing more 
practical and far-reaching than man's con- 
ception of God. It is absolutely funda- 
mental. The anarchist who shot President 
McKinley was reported as declaring himself 
an atheist and as ridiculing what he called 
**the crazy belief in God." One's ideas 
of God enter in a practical way into his 
views of everything else. The Bible con- 
tains a progressive revelation of the char- 
acter of God, culminating in the exalted 
Fatherhood taught by Jesus Christ. This 
is the most sublime and ennobling view of 
God the world has ever had. 

2. Then too, the Bible abounds in infor- 
mation in reference to man. *' Know thy- 
self " was the inscription over the old 
Greek temple. But there was nothing in 

^.. 169 



Zbc :Bi\)\c in nHoDem Xigbt 

that temple to help one to know himself. 
The Bible answers the great questions, 
Whence ? What ? and Whither ? It reveals 
the dignity and the degradation of man. It 
sets forth his duty and his danger. It makes 
known the essential character of sin and it 
teaches the way of salvation. It teaches 
the true principles of living and exalts the 
great truth of human brotherhood. It lifts 
the curtain of the future and gives inspiring 
glimpses of the eternal world. It furnishes 
truths to strengthen the tempted, comfort 
the sorrowing, and give hope to the dying. 
It abounds in information of the most vital 
importance to humanity. 

III. The crowning work of education, 
however, is to furnish incentive to worthv 
conduct. An education which does not issue 
in high moral purpose and worthy achieve- 
ment is a failure. Though I speak with 
the tongues of the Greeks and of the 
Romans, and though I have all knowledge 
of the sciences, and have not a noble pur- 
pose for life, I am nothing. If a young per- 
son be graduated from college with high 
scholastic honors, but without inspiring 
motives and true ideals for life, his educa- 
tion is vitally defective. There is constant 
danger in our schools that this all-important 

170 



XLbc B^ucative IDalue ot JBible StuOig 

moral factor in education shall be omitted. 
The noblest thing in this world is true 
manhood or womanhood. But this we can- 
not have without strong moral purpose. 
There is something radically and alarm- 
ingly wrong in any educative scheme which 
does not furnish and foster strong incen- 
tives to worthy living. Not a few, to- 
day, are concerned for fear our schools 
are not sufficiently emphasizing this aspect 
of education. 

The crowning glory of the Bible as an 
educative power, is its immeasurable incen- 
tive to right living. One may be charmed 
with the beauty and power of the orations 
of Cicero ; he may be delighted with the 
poetry of Horace and Homer ; he may find 
many profitable lessons in history ; phi- 
losophy may greatly attract him with its 
deductions and speculations, and science 
may unfold to him the marvelous operations 
of nature's forces, but nothing appeals to 
his conscience like the Bible. 

Coleridge expressed a truth which thou- 
sands have experienced, when he said, 
** The Bible finds me as no other book 
does.'* It is adapted to the strengthening 
of every important motive to right living. 

I. It appeals to fear. This may be the 
171 



Zbc Mblc in flUoDern Xigbt 

lowest motive and yet it is one that must 
be appealed to in some instances. Fear 
of punishment may deter a child from 
wrong-doing, where nothing else will avail. 

The fact of the distressing consequences 
of wrong-doing holds many back from vice 
when other appeals have little weight. It 
is far better that the dens of infamy be 
avoided through fear than that they be not 
avoided at all. The Bible faithfully pre- 
sents the dire consequences of sin in this 
life and in the life to come, and sounds 
many notes of earnest warnings. The 
Bible in no way appeals to the fear that 
cringes before a tyrant, and begets decep- 
tion and sycophancy, but it does urge men 
to fear the consequences of sin and to seek 
pardon and righteousness. 

2. But the Bible appeals, also, to the 
possibilities before man. One of the main 
springs of action is faith in possibilities. 
True education helps a person to under- 
stand what it is possible for him to attain. 
The lofty airs of the collegian are not 
always to be deprecated. He has been 
having visions of life's possibilities which 
may be of great help to him farther on. 
Commencement orations are sometimes 
sneered at by men in the stern, practical 

172 



dbe BDucative IDalue of 31S(ble Stubs 

walks of later life, but these same orations 
are filled with confidence in the greatness 
of man's mission and in giving this, the 
schools have furnished a strong incentive 
to noble living. The Bible is largely a 
revelation of possibilities. It magnifies the 
dignity and worth of the individual. It 
brings life and immortality to light. It says 
of man, " Thou hast made him a little 
lower than God, and crownest him with 
glory and honor.'* It is full of the invita- 
tions of divine love to man to come into 
the full possession of his immeasurable 
heritage of wisdom, power, and blessedness. 

3. Again, the Bible urges man to worthy 
living because of his relations to others. 

The social side of education is receiving 
increased attention. It has been charged 
in the past that the schools educated per- 
sons away from their social obligations and 
brought them out of sympathy with the 
masses. But at present an effort is being 
made to educate the youth into some just 
appreciation of their obligations to society. 
There is urgent need of much more work 
along this line. Here again, Bible study 
furnishes a great incentive. It reinforces 
with peculiar power the principle of brother- 
hood. No one can become imbued with 

173 



tibe Mblc in mioOcrn Xiabt 

the spirit of the gospel, without being filled 
with a sense or profound obligation to his 
fellow-men. 

When Alexander of Russia was a boy, 
he declared to his father Nicholas, his pur- 
pose to free the serfs if he ever became 
emperor, and gave as his reason the fact 
that the Bible teaches the brotherhood of 
man. He did not forget his purpose, and as 
soon as he reached the throne he inaugu- 
rated the measures which put an end to 
serfdom in Russia. No one can imbibe the 
Christian conception of brotherhood with- 
out being filled with a desire to lead a life 
so pure and true, that his influence will 
help to elevate society and increase the 
sum total of human happiness. 

4. Another strong incentive to right liv- 
ing is the Divine approval. 

Men in all countries have always sought 
the approval of their gods. This has in part 
grown out of a fear of punishment and de- 
sire for reward, but it has also been due to 
the satisfaction which arises from the be- 
lief that the gods are giving their approval. 
God is the Supreme Being. Man is most 
intimately related to him, and is made to 
find his highest joy in fellowship with him. 
Hence this longing for the divine approval 

174 



XTbc Mblc an& tbe Scbools 

is innate and an essential factor in human 
nature. The Bible meets this with a reve- 
lation of God's requirement of a righteous 
life. Without holiness no man can see the 
Lord. Hence man is led not in fear, not 
in a selfish seeking for reward, but be- 
cause of the deepest desire of his heart, 
to lead a true and upright life ; and the 
more fully he sees God as Father and Sav- 
iour, as Redeemer and Friend, the more 
does this motive supersede all others, and 
love, deep, boundless, undying love, be- 
come the one great dominant, all-absorbing 
motive of his life. 

Here, then, the educative value of Bible 
study is found in the mental discipline 
and training offered, and every practicable 
measure possible should be adopted for its 
study in the home, in the church, and in 
the school. 

XII 
tTbe 3Btble anD tbe Scbools 

N the preceding lecture we con- 
sidered the educative value of Bible 
study. Attention was then called to 
the fact that the Bible is admirably adapted 
to educative purposes because of its disci- 

175 




Zbc JBible in /lRo5ctn Xiabt 

plinary value to the mind, its treatment of 
subjects of great practical utility, and the 
incentives furnished for right action. 

From the very nature of the case the 
Bible has always held a most intimate re- 
lation to the schools of the people. Wher- 
ever the Bible has gone schools have sprung 
into existence. The church and the school- 
house have long been associated together 
in the minds of the people. In pagan lands 
to-day as soon as the Bible is accepted, 
schools are organized. There is evidently 
a vital relation between the religion of the 
Bible and the work of education. 

Our discussion will take up two lines of 
investigation. The Bible and the common 
schools, and the Bible and colleges and 
universities. A very large field is opened 
in each and many unsettled problems pre- 
sent themselves. 

I. First, then, we will consider the Bible 
in its relation to the common schools. 
While the schools in other lands may be 
touched upon, we shall have in mind par- 
ticularly the schools of this country. 

Two inquiries arise : the first is historical 
and leads to an investigation of the relation 
which the Bible has actually held to these 
schools. The second is an inquiry not so 

176 



Xlbc HSible anD tbe Scboold 

much into what has been, as what ought 
to be — what is the proper relation of the 
Bible to these schools ? 

I. The historical inquiry shall first claim 
our attention. It would be a matter of in- 
terest to go back to the ancient Israelites 
and look into the influence of their Scrip- 
tures upon their work of education. The 
Jews laid great emphasis upon the educa- 
tion of their children. Josephus writing 
against Apion declares **our principal care 
of all is to educate our children," and he 
adds, ** if any of us is asked about our laws 
he will more readily tell them all than he 
will tell his own name, and this in conse- 
quence of our having learned them as soon 
as ever we became sensible of anything, and 
of our having them, as it were, engraven on 
our souls." But we cannot take time for 
the study of the Hebrew schools. 

Then too, an interesting field would be 
found in the educational work of the early 
Christians. But we must pass all this by 
to come down to the more modern period. 

The Reformation of the sixteenth century 
marked a revival of Bible study and a con- 
sequent revival of the influence of the Bible 
upon society. It was translated into the 
languages of the common people, was read 
M 177 



Zbc IBible in fiQoDetn Xigbt 

in homes and churches, and began to be a 
potent factor in the thought and lives of the 
people. Mr. Eugene R. Lawrence says, 
** The true parent of the current system of 
teaching was the Reformation." 

So reliable an historian as George Ban- 
croft declares : **The common school sys- 
tem was derived from Geneva, the work of 
John Calvin ; introduced into Germany by 
Luther ; by Knox into Scotland, and so be- 
came the property of the English speaking 
nations." 

Others would trace the origin of our 
schools more directly to the Netherlands, 
that early home of biblical power and re- 
ligious liberty. 

Mr. H. B. Adams, of Johns Hopkins, writes 
in ** Studies in History," ** Our free public 
school system of which we are justly so 
proud seems to have its beginnings dis- 
tinctly traceable to the earliest life of the 
Dutch colonies here in America, and to 
have had its prototype in the free schools 
in which Holland led the world." There 
is unquestionably a large measure of truth 
in each of these claims. Different streams 
of biblical influence flowing from the Refor- 
mation met here in America and produced 
our free common school system. 

178 



XTbe :(Blble anD tbe Scbools 

There is an essential relationship between 
the teachings of the Bible and universal 
education. Long before the Reformation 
the principle had been enunciated that 
education should be co-extensive with sov- 
ereignty. All who participated in govern- 
ment should be educated. Says Dr. E. 
E. White, ** Despotism clamored for a re- 
stricted education because she would have 
a restricted sovereignty." ** Charlemagne 
required that the children of all persons par- 
ticipating in the government should be edu- 
cated, in order that intelligence might rule 
the empire." Democracy in government 
is the fruitage of the individual's rights and 
responsibilities taught in the Bible. The 
Reformation was the sure harbinger of the 
American republic. And universal educa- 
tion, embodied in our free public schools, is 
inseparably connected with the sovereignty 
of the people. So that there is a direct re- 
lationship readily traceable between the 
individualism of the gospel and our common 
schools. 

But there is another interesting historical 
relationship between the Bible and the 
public schools of our country. I refer to 
the place which the Bible has been given 
until quite recent years in these schools. 

179 



tTbe :flSib(e in tllobetn Xi^bt 

It was regularly read at the daily opening 
exercises and was very frequently used as 
a reader in the niore advanced classes. Se- 
lections from it or suggested by it were 
numerous in school readers of all grades. 
In looking over the table of contents of 
McGuffey*s " Fourth Reader," which I used 
when a boy I find the following among the 
topics of reading lessons : The Creation, The 
Story of Joseph, The Golden Rule, Sermon 
on the Mount, Proverbs from the Bible, A 
Mother's Gift, The Bible, Remember thy 
Creator, On Prayer, The Evening Hymn, 
Christian Light and Hope, and Religion in 
Youth. It would be difficult to find a Sun- 
day-school book now with as much Bible in 
it as is found in that old *' Fourth Reader." 
Such was the situation until quite recent 
years. The Bible received large and rever- 
ent recognition in our common schools. 
Schoolhouses were constantly used as 
places for public worship, and church build- 
ings were not infrequently employed as 
schoolrooms. But a radical and far-reach- 
ing change has taken place. This brings 
us to the second part of this discussion. 

2. The proper relation of the Bible to 
the common schools. To-day the Bible 
is quite generally excluded from the public 

1 80 



XLbc JBfble and tbe Scbools 

schools. The Courts in many instances 
have decided that the Bible cannot be 
publicly read in our schools. The old 
style of text-book is gone, and in the 
school readers now one looks in vain for 
any selections from the Bible, and almost 
in vain for any recognition of the God of 
the Bible. 

What shall we say of this change ? Or 
perhaps better. What is the proper relation 
of the Bible to our common schools } Ought 
the Bible to be an integral part of these 
schools ? Shall it be read and taught in 
them ? Or shall it be utterly excluded ? 
no reading or studying of it ? no selections 
from it ? and no allusions whatever to it or 
to its teachings ? Two theories prevail in 
reference to education. One is that no 
education can be complete which ignores 
morals and religion. In fact the case is put 
much stronger than this. The bulwark of 
the State is not a knowledge of reading and 
writing, but a grounding in the principles 
of religion and morality. These are the 
really essential things in education, and to 
attempt to educate the children in our 
schools leaving these fundamentals out is 
to fail utterly in anything like a proper 
education for citizenship. Nations die when 

i8i 



Zbc :SQiblc in (Hodetn Xigbt 

religious convictions and moral integrity 
decline. 

On the other hand it is urged that the 
State has no right to exercise any domin- 
ion over the consciences of men. The 
government must in no way interfere either 
to determine or direct the religious thought 
or life of the people. To use the Bible in 
the public schools is, it is urged, a vio- 
lation of this great fundamental principle 
of liberty of conscience, and if permit- 
ted would open the way for all sorts of 
abuses. Here is the situation, and earnest 
and able advocates are found on both sides ; 
and when the importance of the interests 
involved is remembered it is not surpris- 
ing that the controversy is sharp and the 
statements are positive and sometimes ex- 
aggerated. And yet it is a matter that 
should be approached calmly and with a 
judicial frame of mind. It is readily ad- 
mitted that there are grave difficulties in 
the way of the solution of the problems 
involved and yet they are by no means 
insoluble. Permit me to make two state- 
ments which I believe are entirely defen- 
sible and which have an important bearing 
upon the question under discussion. 

Our public schools cannot be completely 
182 



Zhc 3Bi\)lc and tbe Scboola 

secularized without making them essentially 
agnostic, and hostile to the religion of the 
great mass of the people. 

There can be in the public schools such 
use of the Bible as will be entirely unsec- 
tarian, and in perfect accord with the genius 
of our free institutions and in harmony with 
the views of the vast majority of the people. 

Let us enlarge a little upon these state- 
ments. 

I. As to the complete secularization of 
our schools. The theory is that our schools 
can leave all questions of religion entirely 
alone and be thoroughly neutral and non- 
committal upon everything of this kind. 
But this is impossible. Questions of morals 
come up at every turn and in every grade. 
Shall the pupils be taught a mere utilitarian 
ethics, or shall they be taught that God is 
back of all things ? Why shall they do 
right ? Some reason must be given. And 
not to recognize God is in some real sense to 
antagonize the religion of the Bible. Biology 
is a growing branch of study in our schools. 
Evolution is being taught in nearly all of 
our high schools. The pupils will and must 
ask after causes. Shall the teacher shake 
his head in mysterious silence ? Shall he 
teach the materialism or monism of Haeckel ? 

183 



Zbc JBMc in /Ifto^etn Xidbt 

Or shall he say that back of everything is a 
personal God ? Not to recognize God here 
is to some extent to antagonize him. But I 
need not pursue this thought further. Ed- 
ucation is teaching the child to think and 
the thinking child must constantly inquire 
into the great questions of ethics and relig- 
ion. To repress this spirit of inquiry and 
meet it with negations and with no allusions 
to the great truths of religion, in a word to 
secularize completely the schools is to favor 
agnosticism, and take an essentially hostile 
attitude toward the religion of the Bible. 
To do this is to violate the rights of a very 
large majority of the people who maintain 
the schools. 

2. The second statement is that there 
can be in the public schools such use of 
the Bible as will be entirely unsectarian 
and in perfect accord with the genius of 
our free institutions and in harmony with 
the views of the vast majority of the people. 
The thing for the State to fear is not relig- 
ion, but ecclesiasticism, not the union of 
the State and religion, but of the State and 
the Church. The trouble comes with or- 
ganic union, the Church supported by the 
State and the State dictating terms to the 
Church. This is the thing which is utterly 

184 



XLbc Mblc and tbe Scboola 

repugnant to American institutions. But 
for the State to encourage religion among 
the people and to give suitable recognition 
to the great fundamental principles of the 
religion held by the people is simply to 
recognize the rights of the people and the 
highest interests of government. 

These schools stand so close to the peo- 
ple and deal so directly with the youth 
that there is no more suitable place for 
the State to recognize religion than in the 
schoolroom. And there is no better way 
to do this than by a judicious use of the 
Bible. This use should be the public read- 
ing of the Scriptures in which two limita- 
tions should be observed. 

(i) The reading should be unaccompanied 
by any comment or instruction. 

Were there not so many different denom- 
-inations this limitation would be unneces- 
sary. But, however desirable proper in- 
struction in the Bible may be, it is evident 
at once that to permit biblical instruction in 
the public schools would open the way for 
sectarian propagandism and endless discord 
and confusion. 

(2) A second limitation is that such se- 
lections should be read as are adapted to 
the purpose. Many portions of the Bible 

185 



XLbc Mblc in fHodetn Xi^bt 

are not designed for public reading. A 
teacher unfamiliar with the Scriptures might 
make the reading in the school very far 
from edifying. If the Bible is read in the 
public schools, it should be done intelli- 
gently. The selections read should have a 
direct bearing upon the great fundamentals 
of morality and religion. 

To this end a commission thoroughly 
representative of all the religious bodies in 
the State should carefully indicate the por- 
tions of the Bible specially adapted for use 
in the schools and the teacher should be 
furnished with this list, or possibly better, 
with a book containing selections from the 
Bible for reading in public schools. An 
admirable book of this character entitled 
'* Readings from the Bible, Selected for 
Schools," was prepared a few years ago 
under the direction of the Chicago Wo- 
man's Educational Union. This book has 
the hearty indorsement of Jews, Protes- 
tants, Roman Catholics, and men of no 
particular faith. A very earnest effort, 
which failed, was made to introduce this 
book into the Chicago schools as a supple- 
mentary reader. 

Of course those who repudiate the Scrip- 
tures and the Christian religion, and others 

i86 



Zbc Mble and tbe Scboold 

who join them in opposing the use of the 
Bible in the schools, insist that a Buddhist 
or Mohammedan has the same right to 
have his sacred books read in the public 
schools as the Christian has, and that it 
is contrary to the spirit of free govern- 
ment to recognize any religion. But the 
difficulty is, as we have seen, that it is im- 
possible to carry out this theory without 
antagonizing religion. Strict neutrality here 
is impossible. And since this nation is es- 
sentially Christian in its origin, and the 
vast majority is in sympathy with Chris- 
tian ideas, the greatest good to the greatest 
number is conserved by a wise recognition 
of the general fundamental principles upon 
which our religion rests. 

II. Leaving the common schools an in- 
teresting field is opened in the relation of 
the Bible to colleges and universities. 

Should we take time to go over the his- 
tory of higher education we would find that 
until recent years the church has had con- 
trol of practically all the colleges and uni- 
versities. Very many of them had their 
origin in a desire to provide means for the 
educating of the ministry. And from the 
time that Rev. John Harvard gave one 
thousand seven hundred pounds, half of 

187 



Zbc JBiblc in fRloOetn Xidbt 

his estate, to found the university which 
bears his name, until the present time, the 
millions which have been contributed to 
found and maintain institutions of higher 
learning have come almost entirely from 
Christian men and women. The Bible has 
been most intimately connected with the 
establishment and the support of these 
schools. We will not tarry, however, upon 
the history of higher education, but devote 
what time we have to the consideration of 
two questions of great practical importance 
at the present time. Is higher education 
undermining faith in the Bible ? What is 
the mission of the Bible in reference to 
higher education ? 

I. First, then, we will undertake to an- 
swer the question : Is higher education in 
recent years weakening or undermining 
faith in the Bible ? 

Two lines of study have had and are 
having a very direct bearing upon biblical 
matters, science, and history. Scientific 
thought has been revolutionized during the 
past fifty years. Evolution dominates the 
scientific world. I do not mean by this 
that Darwinism has taken the field, but 
that the essential principles of evolution are 
everywhere accepted in scientific circles. 

i88 



^be Mblc and tbe Scboold 

This means that many old ideas which men 
supposed the Bible taught have been given 
up. The teachings of the church respecting 
creation, the age of man, sin, punishment, 
and miracles have been seriously ques- 
tioned by many who occupy the new scien- 
tific position, and it must be admitted that 
not a few have taken an attitude of direct 
hostility to the Bible. 

Then too, this is an age of wonderful ac- 
tivity in research into the buried records of 
the past. The Jewish people were but a 
small nation, almost an insignificant tribe 
amid the mighty nations of that ancient 
world. Egypt had a splendid civilization 
as long before Moses' time, as his time was 
before the present day. We are in a tran- 
sitional period in our view of the ancient 
world, and the world that once was an- 
cient is now almost modern. Our colleges 
and universities are the centers of these* 
new ideas, and many of our young people 
have come back from college with their old 
interest and faith in the traditional views 
of the Bible largely undermined. 

And yet it is also true that with all this 
there has been a wonderful awakening in 
Bible study. The Bible is being read and 
reread in the light of the new facts and 

189 



Zbc Mblc in mioDem Xigbt 

truths. Doctrines are being restated, and 
many are finding that the Bible instead of 
losing power is really gaining in breadth of 
meaning and in the richness of its teaching. 
And to-day there are several significant 
facts which show the trend of things in 
our schools of higher education. One is 
the growth of the Young Men's and Young 
Women's Christian Associations in our col- 
leges, and the large number of students 
taking courses of Bible study. Another in- 
teresting fact is that the movements within 
the last year or two to stimulate and direct 
more intelligent Bible study are originating 
in our colleges and universities. All this 
and much more which might be pointed 
out, indicate that while great changes are 
taking place, the Bible is not losing its hold 
upon the educated and is an important factor 
in our schools of higher instruction. 

2. This brings us to our other question, 
The Bible in reference to higher education. 

Undoubtedly the Bible has been used by 
some narrow religionists to oppose free in- 
vestigation and to prevent the acceptance 
of new truth. And yet this very conserva- 
tism has often been a wholesome check 
upon reckless radicalism, and in the end 
has contributed to the progress of truth. 

190 



^be JBible mt> tbe Scboola 

But this extreme and sometimes bigoted 
conservatism of men professing to believe 
the Bible in no sense suggests its mission 
to higher education. In fact the experiences 
of the past ought to make Christian people 
exceedingly careful in employing the Bible 
to oppose new theories and teachings in 
science. 

But the Bible has a very distinct and help- 
ful mission to the cause of higher education. 

(i) It stimulates one to make the most 
possible of himself. It is a book of high 
ideals and grave responsibilities. Of those 
who go to college a much larger per cent, 
are Christians than is the case with those 
who do not go. The Christian faith gives 
a conception of life which greatly empha- 
sizes the importance of making the most 
possible of one's self. To estimate the real 
sacrifice and heroism embodied in the effort 
to obtain an education go to scores of col- 
leges throughout the country and witness 
the work of thousands of Christian young 
men and women. They are not sent to 
college, they go because of a mighty inner 
impelling to prepare themselves to worthily 
meet their responsibilities in life. 

(2) Another aspect of the mission of the 
Bible to higher education is what may be 

191 



XTbe SBible in (lloDern Xigbt 

termed directive. It has been urged that 
to regard the Bible as a divine revelation is 
to stifle thought, repress investigation, and 
hinder progress. But this rests upon an en- 
tirely erroneous view of the Bible. If the 
Bible claimed to furnish all knowledge upon 
all subjects this objection would hold. But 
it simply lays down certain great regulative 
principles. The compass does not hinder, 
but greatly helps navigation, by always in- 
dicating direction. The compass is a reve- 
lation which makes navigation possible and 
has kept many a noble vessel off the rocks. 
There are four great cardinal truths which 
the Bible presents which must ever be kept 
in mind if man would successfully sail the 
high seas of knowledge. These are the 
existence of God, human responsibility, 
redemption, and immortality. To neglect 
these truths is to wander into error, and to 
lose the highway of progress. The mission 
of the Bible is not to hamper thought but 
to stimulate and direct it, and then to make 
possible the highest attainments. Our col- 
leges and universities are being magnifi- 
cently equipped ; let them have the ut- 
most freedom, but warn them to never lose 
sight of the great directive truths of divine 
revelation. Thus will they go on in still 

192 




/Bo&ern progress ano tbe Bible 

grander conquests and the twentieth cen- 
tury be unsurpassed or unequaled by any 
preceding age in its educative achievements. 



XIII 
/n^odern iprodress and tbe Mblc 

HE present is a period of most re- 
markable progress. It is no con- 
ceit which characterizes the cen- 
tury just closed as the most wonderful by 
far in the history of the race. Its mar- 
velous achievements are so multiplied and 
varied as to be simply bewildering. A 
comparison of conditions to-day with those 
of one hundred years ago reveals changes 
that seem incredible. And yet we know 
they have taken place. A question of great 
interest in connection with this progress is, 
What relation has the Bible sustained to it ? 
The story is familiar how an Eastern prince 
asked Queen Victoria for an explanation of 
England's greatness and received from her 
in reply a copy of the Bible. Was she 
correct in attributing England's growth and 
power to this source } 

It would not be difficult to show that the 
nations which have most largely partici- 
N 193 



Zbc :fiSlb(e in fDloDetn %iQbt 

pated in modern progress are those which 
are known as Christian, and, among these, 
those which have made the most marked 
progress are the ones which have given the 
largest place to the Bible. Here is a mani- 
fest fact, whatever the explanation may 
be. Another fact is also equally manifest. 
Modern progress is most intimately con- 
nected with the Reformation of the sixteenth 
century. There is in this progress both an 
historic and a geographic connection with 
the Bible. First there were divisions, con- 
flicts, wars, following the turnings and the 
overturnings of that Reformation period. 
Then followed reconstruction, great relig- 
ious revivals, organization, progress. 

The nations of Europe which were fore- 
most in the Reformation have led the great 
advance of modern times. But the Reforma- 
tion was essentially a religious movement 
in the interest of the larger liberty of the 
individual as set forth in the Scriptures. 

Our study at this time, however, to be 
profitable, must not be that of mere gener- 
alities, but must take us to the consideration 
of those lines along which progress has been 
particularly marked and must endeavor to 
ascertain what influence the Bible has had 
in these special cases. 

194 



/lRoJ)crn progress ant) tbe Bible 

I. There has been, first of all, great 
progress in modern times in the knowledge 
of the countries and peoples of the world. 
Within the memory of many still living by 
far the larger portions of Asia, Africa, and 
Australia were unknown. Travelers told 
remarkable stories of strange peoples and 
geographers marked many lands '* terra in- 
cognita^^ or filled them in with rivers, 
mountains, lakes, and plains which were 
mainly imaginary. " The Mountains of 
the Moon," which figured so prominently in 
all maps of Africa thirty years ago, have 
evidently gone to the moon or somewhere 
else as they are no longer found on the 
maps. An almost incredible change has 
taken place in the last half-century in our 
knowledge of the countries and peoples of 
the world. Practically every land has been 
explored and all the peoples of the earth are 
known. Every language spoken by any 
considerable number of people has been 
learned and the characteristics of the people 
carefully studied. Scores of languages and 
dialects have been reduced to writing and 
where written languages already existed 
their literature has been studied and vast 
storehouses of information have thus been 
opened. The whole world is known. No 

195 



XLbc :Bib{c in CiQoDern Xi^bt 

nation is any longer concealed in the dark- 
ness of exclusiveness. Even Tibet cannot 
longer hide herself from the penetrating gaze 
of modern knowledge. 

What has wrought this wonderful change 
in the knowledge of the world ? Some 
will answer, science. Science gave to the 
world the compass and the steamboat and 
the spirit of inquiry that cannot rest till the 
whole world is explored. Others will an- 
swer, commerce, and will urge that it is 
the trader who has pioneered these un- 
known lands in the interest of the restless, 
outreaching forces of modern trade. And 
there is much of truth in each of these 
replies, but there is another exceedingly 
important factor in this movement, and that 
is religion. *' Go ye, therefore, and make 
disciples of all nations, *' has been in a 
peculiar sense the watchword of the church 
for more than a century. The great move- 
ment in modern missions began with Wil- 
liam Carey in England in the latter part of 
the eighteenth century. Its growth is one 
of the marvels of history. To-day there 
are some three hundred societies in America 
and Europe engaged in the work of foreign 
missions. An army of devoted men and 
women has made a peaceful invasion of 

196 



flboDcrn iprogress anD tbe ^Blble 

the pagan nations and has done vastly 
more than any other one agency to open 
up those dark places of the earth to the 
knowledge of the civilized world. These 
missionaries have lived among the people, 
have learned their languages, studied their 
customs, and have come into close and 
sympathetic relations with them. They 
have translated the Bible into some two 
hundred and fifty languages and dialects, 
and of these they have reduced about 
seventy-five, which had no written lan- 
guage, to writing, and have taught the 
people the use of books. Volumes could 
be written upon the work of the mission- 
aries in giving to the world accurate and 
extensive information respecting nations 
and tribes and peoples which before had 
been almost wholly unknown. 

Back of this great missionary movement 
is the Bible. It has been in a very marked 
degree a Bible movement. It has received 
its inspiration from the Bible. The mis- 
sionaries have gone forth to teach the Bible. 
Their first great work has been to give the 
natives the Bible in their own tongues. 
Schools have everywhere been organized 
to study the Bible. Livingstone, the great 
missionary explorer, was found in the heart 

197 



XTbe JBible in nilo2)ern Xigbt 

of Africa in his tent, dead, upon his knees, 
with his open Bible before him, a fitting 
expression of the spirit of modern missions, 
which have contributed so largely to prog- 
ress in the knowledge of the countries and 
the peoples of the world. 

II. A second prominent feature in mod- 
ern progress is found in the utilization of 
nature's forces and agencies. Doctor 
Franklin said, ** Man is a tool-making ani- 
mal," that is, man has the ability to devise 
ways and means for taking advantage of 
the forces of nature. The progress of man 
has been in no small degree determined by 
the use which he has made of this tool- 
making capacity. It was a great day in 
human progress when the savage learned 
how to substitute metal implements for 
those made of wood and bone and stone. 

Three inventions have especially charac- 
terized and contributed to modern progress. 
These are the printing press, the steam 
engine, and the telegraph. The printing 
press has been the mighty stimulator of 
thought and the great disseminator of in- 
telligence. The steam engine has made 
possible the marvelous development of 
navigation, the vast systems of railroads, 
and the immeasurable growth of manufac- 

198 



/iRoOern profltcss an& tbe 3BibIe 

turing interests. The telegraph has linked 
all parts of the world together in most inti- 
mate relations, and, as a beginning in the 
use of electricity, prepared the way for the 
recent wonders of the telephone, electric 
lights, and electric motors. 

What relation, if any, does the Bible sus- 
tain to this field of progress ? It is custom- 
ary to say that science is the great agency 
of progress here. But what is meant by 
such a statement ? Science is not so much 
an agency of progress as it is an evidence 
of progress. Science is progress itself rather 
than the cause of progress. Inventions and 
discoveries become helps in the upward 
movements, but they themselves are the 
result of antecedent causes. An elevator is 
a wonderful help in making serviceable a 
great office building, but the elevator is 
dependent upon a motor of some kind to 
lift it. So back of all the wonderful inven- 
tions which have contributed so largely to 
modern progress is a mighty motor which 
has made all this possible, an awakened 
and strengthened human mind. And back 
of this awakening mental energy are the 
forces that found new meaning in the Ref- 
ormation, when the Bible began anew its 
mighty movings upon the mind of man. 

199 



Zbc JBtble in ^oDern Xigbt 

It is a significant fact that the first book 
published with movable type was the Bible, 
and that the first message sent by Profes- 
sor Morse over the first telegraph line, from 
Washington to Baltimore, in 1844, was 
" What hath God wrought ? ** What I am 
urging is that this wonderful outbreak of 
invention in modern times contributing so 
largely to our extraordinary material prog- 
ress is the result of the widespread dissem- 
ination of intelligence and the marked 
practical trend of modern life, which are 
the essential concomitants of a biblical 
and Christian civilization. 

III. Another marked feature in modern 
progress is the growth of true philanthropy. 
This is seen in several important particulars. 

I. In charitable institutions and organi- 
zations. These were practically unknown 
in the ancient world. And not until modern 
times has there been any general move- 
ment in this direction. But now we have 
hospitals, asylums, homes, institutes, ref- 
uges, and the like, without number. The 
sick, the blind, the deaf, the insane, the 
idiotic, the aged, the children, all classes 
and conditions of the helpless and depend- 
ent are cared for ; millions of dollars an- 
nually are given to this work and thou- 

200 



/n^oOern prodrees and tbe :ilSib[e 

sands of trained workers are devoting their 
time and energy to the relieving of suffer- 
ing and the care of the dependent. 

2. This philanthropic progress has also 
been manifested in a marked way in re- 
formatory work. 

Two great philanthropic reform move- 
ments have characterized modern times : 
One for the emancipation of slaves and the 
other for the improvement of prisons. The 
story of each is full of records of heroic, 
self-sacrificing endeavor. England, stirred 
by William Wilberforce, passed an eman- 
cipation act in 1833, putting an end to slav- 
ery throughout Great Britain. France acted 
in 1838 ; the Dutch in 1863, the same year 
in which President Lincoln issued the im- 
mortal emancipation proclamation in our 
own country. 

During the latter part of the eighteenth 
century John Howard began his work of 
exposing the awful conditions of prisons, 
and inaugurated a movement which is by 
no means yet complete, but which has con- 
tributed to a remarkable improvement in 
the treatment of criminals. 

3. Another aspect of philanthropic work 
becoming daily more prominent is that of 
prevention. 

201 



Z\)c :bmc in fnioocrn Xigbt 

It is good to build charitable institutions, 
and to reform prisons, but it is better to 
make these institutions, so far as possible, 
unnecessary. Hence the more recent phil- 
anthropy under the name of sociology is 
seeking to so improve legislation, sanitary 
conditions, and moral environment as to 
prevent crime and disease, and cultivate 
the spirit of self-support and self-respect. 
Children must be kept out of shops and 
stores and factories, and be educated. 
Tenement districts must be carefully super- 
vised, and a thousand things done to purify 
social conditions and so elevate humanity. 

Such in briefest statement is the philan- 
thropic progress in modern times as seen 
in charitable, reformatory, and preventive 
institutions and measures. 

What is the relation of the Bible to this 
work ? 

(i) The teachings of the Scriptures are 
decidedly charitable and philanthropic. 

The Mosaic legislation made large pro- 
vision for the poor. Land could not be per- 
manently alienated from a family. The 
reapers in the field must leave a portion for 
the needy gleaners. Ample provision was 
made so that the poor could have sacrifices 
for the temple worship. The Jews have 

202 



/iRoDern iprogcess anD tbe JBiblc 

always been noted for the few dependent 
ones among them, and for their generosity 
in caring for these. The teachings of the 
New Testament are full of thoughts for the 
poor. To the rich young man Christ said, 
** Go sell that thou hast and give to the 
poor." The parable of the good Samaritan 
is a striking setting forth of the fact that 
true neighborliness is a readiness to help 
any who are in need. The judgment scene 
portrayed in the twenty-fifth chapter of 
Matthew is full of the thought of ministry 
to the needy. **I was a hungered and ye 
gave me meat : I was thirsty and ye gave 
me drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me 
in : naked, and ye clothed me : I was sick, 
and ye visited me : I was in prison, and ye 
came unto me. *' The Bible throughout is a 
marvelous text-book of philanthropy. 

(2) This leads to another thought : The 
workers in this field of progress have found 
great inspiration from the Scriptures. 

John Howard, the renowned leader in 
prison reform, was a devoted Christian, and 
requested that his tombstone should have 
this simple inscription and none other : 
*' Christ is my hope." William Wilberforce, 
who was influential in leading Parliament 
to pass the emancipation act of 1833, was 

203 



XLbc :fi5ible in fiHotJcrn XlQbt 

moved to his work in behalf of the slaves 
by a transformed life which resulted largely 
from a direct study of the Bible. This 
change took place in 1784. Shortly after- 
ward he began his work against the slave 
traffic, and persisted until his death in 1833. 
Just before this event England passed the 
bill referred to, and the spirit of the man is 
seen in his exclamation when he heard the 
good news, ** Thank God, that I should 
have lived to witness a day in which Eng- 
land is willing to give twenty millions ster- 
ling for the abolition of slavery.*' 

Abraham Lincoln during the awful days 
of the rebellion was a constant reader of 
the Bible, and had a profound conviction 
that he had a divine commission. And 
when he read the emancipation proclama- 
tion to the cabinet just previous to its an- 
nouncement to the world he said, '* I have 
promised my God I will do it.*' But I need 
not multiply examples. Mighty workers 
for humanity have as a rule been moved 
by deep religious convictions closely linked 
to scriptural teachings. 

(3) Still further there is constant recog- 
nition of the need of the Bible to re-enforce 
humanitarian work. 

The reports of the annual meetings of 
204 



/Modern t^toQtcee and tbe Bible 

the "National Prison Reform Congress/' 
furnish interesting reading as showing 
the increasingly large place given to the 
consideration of religious matters. The 
criminal classes must be touched with 
wholesome religious influences if they are 
to be reclaimed. ** The Peace Society " is 
little else than an agency for the magnify- 
ing of the true conception of brotherhood 
taught by Christ. The various associated 
charities find that their hope is in keeping 
in closest relations to the churches. Child 
saving organizations are constantly appeal- 
ing to the Christ exaltation of childhood in 
the prosecution of their work. 

There is a great current of biblical truth 
running all through these philanthropic 
movements giving direction and power to 
them. In fact the Bible is the smitten rock 
from which flow forth the streams of charity 
for the beautifying of human life. 

IV. There is one more phase of modern 
progress which shall claim our attention at 
this time — I refer to the progress of liberty. 
We have no time to trace its development, 
but can simply indicate some of its more 
important features. 

I. The growth of constitutions is first to 
be noted. 

205 



Zbc :Biblc in fnioDetn %iQht 

As early as the thirteenth century King 
John was compelled to give the Magna 
Charta, but absolutism still held a strong 
sway throughout the civilized world. The 
people, however, began to demand their 
rights and more and more have constitu- 
tional limitations been placed upon kings 
and emperors until in some of the great 
monarchical nations the authority of the 
rulers is not so great as that of the presi- 
dent of our own country. 

2. Co-extensive with this work of limit- 
ing the power of kings has gone forward 
the enlargement of the privileges of the 
people. The franchise has been constantly 
extended and the elective offices increased. 
The circle of self-government has been 
steadily enlarged until here in America, the 
greatest nation of the world, we have a 
government **of the people by the people 
and for the people.'* 

3. Then too, liberty has made wonder- 
ful advance in the domain of conscience 
and speech. Liberty of conscience and 
freedom of speech are so firmly and thor- 
oughly inwrought into the very fabric of 
our national life, that it is very difficult 
for us to realize that the time was when 
men did not dare to speak out their hon- 

206 



/lRo&ern iproflrcsa anO tbe :fi3ible 

est convictions, and when they were per- 
secuted, imprisoned, and put to death be- 
cause they refused to assent to prescribed 
formulas of faith. 

Liberty was once simply a far-off beacon 
light guiding men through the darkness 
of a night of tyranny and bigotry, a star 
which heralded the full-orbed day in which 
we live. I do not forget that there are 
still injustice and oppression, and that many 
have not yet obtained their full rights, but 
these facts must not for a moment blind 
us to the splendid progress which has al- 
ready been made. 

It remains for us to ask after the relation 
of the Bible to this progress of liberty. I 
do not now discuss the influence of coun- 
try, climate, and race upon this growth of 
freedom. These are factors which have 
entered in. 

There is an unquenchable love of lib- 
erty in the Anglo-Saxon heart. The min- 
gling of peoples in America, the broad ex- 
panse of territory, a climate charged with 
the very ozone of life — these have been 
factors in the development of freedom. But 
back of all these there is something deeper : 
it is the spirit of Puritanism. 

There is no more significant movement in 
207 



XLbc Bible in flQo&ctn XiQbt 

history than that denominated Puritanism, 
— narrow and bigoted in some respects and 
at the same time broad, progressive, invin- 
cible. Unable to live within the restrictions 
of an established church and of a monarchy 
it came to a new world, and by the irre- 
sistible logic of events and principles estab- 
lished a republic and built the institutions 
of freedom. 

But there never has been a movement 
more intensely biblical than was Puritan- 
ism, narrowly, blindly so in some things, 
yet grandly so in its exaltation of the worth 
and the rights of the individual and in its 
moral heroism for conviction and for con- 
science. Thus the Bible becomes an ex- 
ceedingly important factor in the greatest 
agency for the promotion of liberty in mod- 
ern times. 

This book which we call the book of 
God is in a peculiar sense the book of the 
people. It has in a remarkable way con- 
tributed to those movements which have 
been charged with largest good to human- 
ity. It is still filled with immeasurable 
potentiality. What is especially needed to 
strengthen and perpetuate the progress in 
which we delight is the faithful study, the 
honest interpretation, and the fearless ap- 

208 




^be Bible anD Cbridt 

plication of **the word of God which liveth 
and abideth forever." 



XIV 
Zbc Mblc anO Cbrfst 

HRIST separates the Bible into its 
two grand divisions, the Old and 
the New Testaments. At the same 
time he binds together its various parts into 
a single volume characterized by remark- 
able unity. 

The Old Testament belongs entirely to 
a period antedating the coming of Christ, 
while the New Testament is made up 
wholly of records relating directly to Christ 
and to the events following and growing 
out of his work. In order to determine the 
relation of Christ to the Bible we will take 
up the following lines of study : The essen- 
tial features of the Christ of the New 
Testament, the Messianic expectations and 
prophecies of the Old Testament and their 
fulfillment in the Christ of the New Testa- 
ment, and Christ the crowning evidence of 
the truth of the Bible. Here are fields of 
wonderful interest containing truth of far- 
reaching significance. 
O 209 



Ebe Miblc in fiQoOern Xigbt 

I. Our first inquiry, then, will be into the 
essential character of the Christ of the New 
Testament. 

We do not now need to raise the question 
of the authenticity of the Gospels. We do 
not assume anything. We know we have 
here four books — Matthew, Mark, Luke, 
and John ; no matter at this stage of our 
discussion where they came from or who 
wrote them, they contain the story of a 
remarkable life ; fiction or not, here is the 
record and we are simply asking after the 
essential character of this extraordinary 
personage as here presented. 

I. We note first an exceptional begin- 
ning and ending of his earthly career. 
** Conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of 
the Virgin Mary *' is the statement of the 
Apostles' Creed ; or better, going to the 
Gospel of Luke we read, ** The Holy Spirit 
shall come upon thee, and the power of the 
Most High shall overshadow thee : where- 
fore also that which is to be born shall be 
called holy, the Son of God." Such is the 
brief and impressive statement of the mi- 
raculous birth of Jesus. 

The end of his earthly career was 
marked by his resurrection from the dead 
and his ascension to glory. Peter, upon 

2IO 



Zbc 38ible an& (Ibti6t 

the day of Pentecost, declared : ** This 
Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all 
are witnesses. Therefore being by the 
right hand of God exalted, and having re- 
ceived of the Father the promise of the 
Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this, which 
ye now see and hear/' These statements 
relative to the birth of Jesus and his resur- 
rection and exaltation are integral parts of 
the New Testament conception of Christ. 

2. When we come to a study of his life 
between these great events we find that 
extraordinary power and authority were 
ascribed to him. He made a profound 
impression upon the people. Multitudes 
thronged him so that he scarcely found 
opportunity to eat and to sleep. ** He 
spoke as one having authority and not as 
the scribes." He wrought wonderful works 
which filled the people with amazement 
and joy. His miracles were not works of 
magic but were deeds of mercy. They 
were wrought to relieve distress and bring 
the thought of heaven's compassion near 
to humanity's burdens and sufferings. The 
miracles of Christ as presented in the New 
Testament differ in this respect very widely 
from the miracles recorded in other religious 
books. There is a large place given in the 

211 



XLbc Mblc in nQo^ecn %iQbt 

Gospels to the setting forth of the power of 
Christ, and after his resurrection he de- 
clares, *'A1I power is given unto me in 
heaven and in earth.'* 

3. Again, the Gospels present Christ as 
free from sin. He was sorely pressed by 
the tempter but he did not yield. We 
search in vain among all of his utterances 
for any expression that would indicate on 
his part any consciousness of sin. On the 
contrary he declared, ** The Father hath 
not left me alone, for I do always those 
things that please him.'* And to his ene- 
mies, who were eager to overthrow him, he 
gave the challenge, ** Which of you con- 
victeth me of sin ? " The verdict of his 
contemporaries, and in the main of all the 
generations since, is summed up in the 
words of Scripture, ** Tempted in all points 
like as we are yet without sin.*' 

4. A fourth characteristic was his excep- 
tional ability as a teacher. Nicodemus, 
the learned member of the Sanhedrin who 
came to Jesus by night, said, ** We know 
that thou art a teacher come from God.*' 
The common appellation ** Master," applied 
to Christ, is simply ** Teacher." He called 
his followers disciples, which means learn- 
ers. His invitation to the burdened mul- 

212 



Zbc Mblc and Cbcidt 

titudes was, ** Come, and learn of me.*' 
Officers sent to arrest him returned with- 
out him, saying, ** Never man spake like 
this man.*' 

He had a perception of truth, an under- 
standing of human nature, and a power to 
impress the people which have never been 
equaled. He laid hold upon great princi- 
ples, he rose above pettiness and jealousies, 
and he was filled with the truth he taught. 
He taught in a way to move the unlearned 
masses and at the same time to command 
the attention of the learned. He still con- 
tinues the world's greatest teacher. 

5. Still further, the Christ of the New 
Testament is presented as the world's 
Saviour. He was moved with the con- 
sciousness of a great mission to humanity. 
Listen to his words : ** The Son of man is 
come to seek and to save that which was 
lost." ** As Moses lifted up the serpent in 
the wilderness even so must the Son of 
man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish but have everlast- 
ing life." ** Whosoever will confess me 
before men, him will I also confess before 
my Father which is in heaven." *' Verily, 
verily 1 say unto you he that heareth my 
word, and believeth on him that sent me, 

213 



XLbc M\)lc in jflbodern Xi^bt 

hath everlasting life, and shall not come 
into condemnation ; but is passed from 
death unto life." **l am come that they 
might have life, and that they might have 
it abundantly.*' ** I am the way, the truth, 
and the life ; no man cometh unto the 
Father but by me.** *' All powej- is given 
unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye 
therefore, and make disciples of all nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : 
teaching them to observe all things what- 
soever I have commanded you : and, lo, I 
am with you always, even unto the end of 
the age.'* 

Christ believed, and his followers also, 
that he had come a Saviour for the world. 
This is the unmistakable teaching of the 
New Testament. 

6. Closely related to this thought of his 
being the Saviour is that of his Kingship or 
Messiahship. 

Israel was looking for a king, one who 
would rule in equity and restore more than 
the Davidic glory. He was to be the 
Anointed, the Messiah of God. The New 
Testament teaches that Jesus was this 
Messianic King. As soon as Andrew had 
met Jesus he sought his brother, Peter, 

214 



XLbc Mblc anO Cbrlst 

and said, **We have found the Messiah." 
A little later Philip brought Nathanael to 
Jesus and he exclaimed, ** Thou art the 
Son of God, thou art the King of Israel.** 
When the woman of Samaria at Jacob's 
well said, ** I know that Messiah cometh, 
which is called Christ ; when he is come he 
will tell us all things," Jesus replied, ** I 
that speak unto thee am he." Peter's 
famous confession was, ** Thou art the 
Christ, the Son of the living God." 

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the 
Sunday before his crucifixion the people 
carpeted the road with palm branches and 
with their own garments and shouted, 
** Hosanna to the Son of David : Blessed 
be the King of Israel that cometh in the 
name of the Lord." When he stood before 
the Sanhedrin for trial the high priest said 
unto him, ** I adjure thee, by the living 
God, tell us whether thou be the Christ, 
the Son of God." '* And Jesus said, I 
am." When his accusers brought him be- 
fore Pilate, the Roman governor, they 
made this charge, **We found this man 
perverting our nation and forbidding to give 
tribute to Cassar, and saying that he him- 
self is Christ, a king." And when Pilate 
said unto him, *' Art thou the King of the 

215 



tibe aSible in fiQobern Xigbt 

Jews ? " his answer, '* Thou sayest that I 
am a King," but explained that his was a 
spiritual kingdom. The New Testament is 
full of the thought of Jesus as the Messianic 
King, as the one who should rule as King of 
kings and Lord of lords. 

7. There is still one more characteristic 
of Christ made prominent in the New Tes- 
tament, and that is his divinity, his unique 
and peculiar relation to God. Understand, 
I am not now discussing the doctrine of the 
deity of Jesus. I am simply saying that 
these records which we are examining 
teach it. Right or wrong, they unques- 
tionably give us a conception of Christ 
which exalts him above humanity and 
links him in a peculiar way to the eternal 
Father. He is called ** The Son of God,** 
** The only begotten Son.** He says of 
himself, 'M and my Father are one.** *'He 
that hath seen me hath seen the Father.** 
He claimed pre-existence, saying, ** Before 
Abraham was I am,** and again, ** Father, 
glorify thou me with the glory which I had 
with thee before the world was." We 
read of him, ** In the beginning was the 
Word — the Logos — and the Word was with 
God and the Word was God. And the 
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, 

216 



ZTbe JSible and Cbti0t 

and we beheld his glory, the glory as of 
the only begotten of the Father, full of 
grace and truth." 

But time forbids us to dwell longer upon 
these characteristics of Jesus as set forth 
in the New Testament. But before leav- 
ing them let me briefly summarize what 
has been said : (i) He had a miraculous 
birth and a miraculous deliverance from the 
grave. (2) He was clothed with extraor- 
dinary power and authority. (3) He led 
a sinless life. (4) He was a teacher of 
exceptional ability and wonderful grasp of 
the truth. (5) He came as the Saviour 
of the world and worked under the con- 
sciousness of that sublime mission. (6) He 
was the Messiah-King and claimed the right 
to rule over the lives of men. (7) He was 
the Son of God, one with the Father. Such 
is the Christ presented to us in the records 
which we have before us. 

II. We now turn to the Old Testament 
to see what relation, if any, the Christ 
which we have found bears to the teach- 
ings of these earlier records. 

One of the most remarkable features of 
the Old Testament is its prophetic element. 
Israel magnified the hand of God in their 
past history, but their dominant thought 

217 



tibe 3Bib[e in fllodern Xigbt 

was of the future. They were a people 
with a great hope. Other nations looked 
backward to a wonderful golden age, but 
Israel's glory lay ahead. Says Geikie : 
*'The central and dominant characteristic 
of the teaching of the rabbis was the cer- 
tain advent of a great deliverer, the Mes- 
siah, or Anointed of God ; in the Greek 
translation of the title, the Christ. In no 
other nations than the Jews has such a 
conception ever taken such root or shown 
such vitality.*' The peoples among whom 
the Jews were scattered came to share 
somewhat their expectations, hence the 
wise men from the East came to Jerusalem 
asking, ** Where is he that is born King of 
the Jews, for we have seen his star in the 
East and have come to worship him." It 
is a study of fascinating interest to ascer- 
tain the conception of the Messiah enter- 
tained by the prophets who foretold his 
coming. These prophecies are found scat- 
tered throughout the Old Testament. It 
will be impossible at this time to do more 
than outline what is found here and to 
give simply a few of the leading passages 
of Scripture. 

I. The Messiah foretold in the Old Tes- 
tament was to be a Deliverer and Saviour, 

2i8 



XLbc JBiblc anD Cbrfdt 

not for the Jews only but for all the world. 
The first ray of hope in the darkness 
wrought by sin was, ** The seed of the 
woman shall bruise the serpent's head.'* 
When Abraham was called the promise 
made to him was, ** And in thy seed shall 
all the nations of the earth be blessed ** 
(Gen. 22 : i8). The Psalms abound in 
this universal thought, ** All the ends of 
the world shall remember and turn unto the 
Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations 
shall worship before thee." This is found 
in the twenty-second Psalm, which has 
been called ** The Programme of the Cru- 
cifixion." And again in Ps. 72 : 7, 8, ** In 
his days shall the righteous flourish, and 
abundance of peace so long as the moon 
endureth. He shall have dominion also 
from sea to sea, and from the river unto 
the ends of the earth." Isaiah had won- 
derful visions of the coming glory of the 
Messiah's reign. ** The Spirit of the Lord 
God is upon me ; because the Lord hath 
anointed me to preach good tidings unto 
the meek, he hath sent me to bind up the 
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the 
captives, and the opening of the prison to 
them that are bound, to proclaim the ac- 
ceptable year of the Lord " (Isa. 61 : i, 2). 

219 



XLDc 3Blble in /iRoDcrn Xlgbt 

The same prophet wrote, ** And it shall 
come to pass in the last days, that the 
mountain of the Lord's house shall be 
established in the top of the mountains, 
and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all 
nations shall flow unto it " (Isa. 2 : 2). 
I quote also from Dan. 7 : 13, 14 : *' I saw 
in the night visions, and, behold, one like 
the Son of man came with the clouds of 
heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, 
and they brought him near before him. 
And there was given him dominion, and 
glory, and a kingdom, that all people, 
nations, and languages should serve him : 
his dominion is an everlasting dominion, 
which shall not pass away, and his king- 
dom that which shall not be destroyed." 
And Zechariah (9:9) exclaims: ** Shout, 
O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy King 
Cometh unto thee : he is just, and having 
salvation.*' 

Thus the Messiah of the Old Testament 
is a Saviour and Deliverer for all nations of 
the earth, and in this respect is the same 
as the Christ of the Gospels. How per- 
fectly this conception fits into the parting 
words of Christ, ** Go ye into all the world 
and preach the gospel to every creature." 

2. Again, the kingly character of the 
220 



Zbc Mblc anD Cbriet 

Messiah is made very prominent in the Old 
Testament. He was seen as a coming 
king. Jacob declared in his farewell words 
to his sons (Gen. 49 : 10), ** The sceptre 
shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver 
from between his feet, until Shiloh come ; 
and unto him shall the gathering of the peo- 
ple be." The second Psalm is strikingly 
Messianic. We read, " Yet have I set my 
King upon my holy hill of Zion " ; and to 
this King he says, ** Ask of me and I will 
give thee the heathen for an inheritance 
and the uttermost parts of the earth for a 
possession." Isaiah 55 : 4 declares, '* Be- 
hold I have given him for a leader and for 
a commander to the people." And again 
he says: **For unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given : and the govern- 
ment shall be upon his shoulders : and his 
name shall be called Wonderful, Counsel- 
lor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father,* 
The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his 
government and peace there shall be no 
end, upon the throne of David, and upon 
his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it 
with judgment and with justice even for 
ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will 
perform this" (Isa. 9 : 6, 7). Micah 5 : 2 
with great defmiteness says : ** But thou 

221 



^be :Bi\)lc in /iboOecn Xtgbt 

Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little 
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of 
thee shall he come forth unto me that is to 
be ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have 
been from of old, from everlasting." But I 
need not multiply these quotations. The 
prophecies abound in them, so much so that 
the great overshadowing expectation of the 
Jews was the coming of a mighty king who 
should reign with a splendor surpassing that 
of David or Solomon. The Christ of the 
New Testament is a mighty king, whose 
mission is nothing short of the subjugation 
of the world and the bringing in of the day 
when **the kingdoms of this world shall 
become the kingdom of our Lord and of his 
Christ" (Rev. n : 15). 

3. But the study of the Old Testament 
discloses another fact relative to the Mes- 
siah. He was to be a person of great wis- 
dom and capable of teaching the people. 

Moses declared : ** The Lord thy God 
will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the 
midst of thee. . . like unto me ; unto him ye 
shall hearken " (Deut. 18 : 15), and a little 
farther on in the same connection : ** I 
will raise them up a Prophet from among 
their brethren, like unto thee, and will put 
my words in his mouth : and he shall speak 

222 



^bc J3ible atiD Cbrtgt 

unto them all that I command him " (Deut. 
i8 : i8). Isaiah (ii : 2, 3) in speaking of 
the Messiah said, *VThe Spirit of the Lord 
shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom 
and of understanding, the spirit of counsel 
and might, the spirit of knowledge and of 
the fear of the Lord ; and shall make him 
of quick understanding in the fear of the 
Lord : and he shall not judge after the 
sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the 
hearing of his ears." Ezekiel (34 : 23) : '* I 
will set up one Shepherd over them, and he 
shall feed them and he shall be their Shep- 
herd." All through these Messianic proph- 
ecies there runs this thought of the wis- 
dom of the Coming One. The woman of 
Samaria, when she said of the Messiah, 
** When he is come, he will tell us all 
things," but voiced the prevailing conclu- 
sion reached by the study of the Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures. This idea fits perfectly 
into the work of him who has indeed be- 
come the Teacher of the ages. 

4. We look once more through these won- 
derful records and fmd that this expected 
Messiah was characterized by righteousness 
and holiness. *' But with righteousness 
shall he judge the poor, and reprove with 
equity the meek of the earth." ** And 

223 



XTbe Mblc in AboDetn Xi^bt 

righteousness shall be the girdle of his 
loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his 
reins'* (Isa. ii : 4, 5). ** Behold a King 
shall reign in righteousness'* (Isa. 32 : i). 
** Then I said, Lo, I come: in the volume 
of the book it is written of me, I delight to 
do thy will, O my God ** (Ps. 40 : 7, 8). *' I 
will raise unto David a righteous Branch " 
( Jer. 23 : 5). Such are a few of the passages 
which foretold the coming of Him whose 
matchless life has stood the scrutiny of the 
centuries and still stands as the one perfect 
life which has been lived among men. 

5. Still another thought: the prophets 
foresaw a suffering Messiah. They saw 
his power, wisdom, royalty, and glory. 
But as across the spectrum with its brilliant 
colors there are dark lines, so across the 
visions of the glory of the Messiah there 
were dark lines. 

The twenty-second Psalm, as already 
stated, has been called the ** Programme of 
the Crucifixion." With Calvary in mind 
listen to a few of the expressions of this 
psalm : *' All they that see me, laugh me to 
scorn, they shoot out the lip, they shake 
the head saying, He trusted on the Lord 
that he would deliver him : let him deliver 
him seeing he delighteth in him." **My 

224 



ITbe Mblc anD dbriet 

strength is dried up like a potsherd and my 
tongue cleaveth to my jaws.'* *' They part 
my garments among them and cast lots 
upon my vesture.** **Dogs have com- 
passed me : the assembly of the wicked 
have enclosed me : they pierced my hands 
and my feet.'* **My God, my God why 
hast thou forsaken me.'* There is some- 
thing almost startling here when we re- 
member that these words were written hun- 
dreds of years before the death of Christ. 

Bear in mind the crucifixion of Christ, 
and the following destruction of Jerusalem 
and then hearken to these words from 
Daniel (9 : 26) : ** And after threescore and 
two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not 
for himself, and the people of the prince 
that shall come shall destroy the city and 
the sanctuary.'* Then there is that most 
remarkable fifty-third chapter of Isaiah — I 
cannot take time to quote the whole : " He 
is despised and rejected of men, a man of 
sorrows and acquainted with grief.** ** He 
was wounded for our trangressions, he was 
bruised for our iniquities : the chastise- 
ment of our peace was upon him, and with 
his stripes we are healed." ** He is brought 
as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep 
before her shearers is dumb, so openeth he 
P 225 



XTbe 3Bil)lc in ASoOern Xidbt 

not his mouth.*' **He was cut off out of 
the land of the living, for the transgression 
of my people was he stricken.*' ** He 
made his grave with the wicked, and with 
the rich in his death, because he had done 
no violence, neither was any deceit in his 
mouth." ** He was numbered with the 
transgressors ; and he bore the sin of many 
and made intercession for the transgress- 
ors." More than seven hundred years be- 
fore Christ, a prophet uttered these words 
so minutely and comprehensively descrip- 
tive of the character and sufferings of Him 
who has melted the hearts of thousands by 
his matchless sacrifice for humanity. 

6. I must take time to touch upon just 
one more feature of the Old Testament 
portraiture of the Messiah. The prophets 
saw in him something more than man. 1 
do not say that they presented the later 
doctrine of his divinity but there are cer- 
tainly foregleams of it. I quote without 
comment the following: *' I will declare 
the decree : the Lord hath said unto me, 
thou art my Son ; this day have I begotten 
thee." **Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, 
and thou perish from the way, when his 
wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are 
all they that put their trust in him " (Ps. 

226 



Ubc 3eSible anD Cbtfst 

2 : 7, 12). '* The Lord said unto my Lord, 
sit thou at my right hand until I mal<e thine 
enemies thy footstool '* (Ps. no : i). *' His 
name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, 
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, 
The Prince of Peace *' (Isa. g : 6). ** The 
Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to 
his temple, even the messenger of the cov- 
enant, whom ye delight in : behold, he shall 
come, saith the Lord of hosts " (Mai. 3 : i). 
These old-time prophecies threw round 
about the coming Messiah a glory that is 
more than human and prepared the way for 
that exalted conception of his divinity pre- 
sented by the New Testament writers. 

I might go on and speak of the prophecies 
relating to the virgin birth, to Bethlehem as 
the place, to the betrayal for thirty pieces 
of silver, to the resurrection and the ascen- 
sion, but these are less important and re- 
quire extended interpretation. But these 
great outlines, these salient features of 
prophecy which have been touched upon 
are readily traced and are profoundly sig- 
nificant in the complete identification of the 
Messiah of the Old Testament with the 
Jesus of the New Testament. The two are 
one and the same and so he unites the Bible 
with its two grand divisions into one volume. 

227 



tTbe :iBible in il^oDem Xiabt 

III. The remaining thought proposed for 
discussion at this time, Christ the supreme 
evidence of the truth of the Bible, can now 
be briefly disposed of. The argument is 
simple and conclusive. I do not claim that 
it is conclusive as proving that every part 
of the Bible as we have it is fully inspired 
and absolutely free from error. But what 
is claimed is that the Bible has unmistaka- 
ble evidence of a divine authorship, that 
the Christ of the Bible could not have been 
produced without a special or unique divine 
intervention. 

I. Look first of all at the Messianic ex- 
pectation of the Old Testament writers. 
Whence came this ? We have examined 
the remarkable elements in this expecta- 
tion. There is nothing at all comparable 
to this in the history of any other nation. 
The prophets, surrounded by narrowness 
and prejudice, had visions of universal 
blessings to humanity. Breathing an at- 
mosphere of worldly conquest and material 
blessings, they saw a splendid kingdom of 
high ideals and lofty spiritual attainments. 
They saw a coming King who would reign 
in equity and love, who would be filled with 
the Spirit of God and lead on to a blessed 
era when men would learn war no more and 

228 



XLbc MDlc and Cbti0t 

when spears would be beaten into pruning 
hooks and swords into plowshares. 

Other men were dreaming of plunder and 
war and conquest and were filled with 
blindness and pride and hate. Whence 
came such visions to these men ? ** Holy 
men of old spake as they were moved by 
the Spirit of God.'* There is no other 
way to account for the inspiring Messianic 
conceptions of the Old Testament. 

2. Then come to the New Testament. 
How shall we account for the Christ found 
here ? I said at the outset that we would 
assume nothing as to the truth of the 
records, but we would simply ascertain 
the characteristics of the central personage 
presented by them. But now I ask, How 
are we to account for this personage ? Is 
he a character of fiction ? Nobody now 
maintains this. It would have been an 
impossible task for a number of writers to 
have conspired together to work out in 
detail such a character. Theodore Parker 
said, ** It would have taken a Jesus to forge 
a Jesus.** All must and do admit that 
Jesus was a real, living personage. Upon 
this basis two theories are possible to ac- 
count for him. One the natural, the other 
the supernatural. 

229 



Xlbe JSiblc in ASo^ern Xigbt 

The naturalistic theory may take several 
forms, but ail are agreed in substantially 
the following statements : There is a basis 
of fact in the Gospels. Jesus actually 
lived, but not the Jesus as represented in 
the Gospels. The real Jesus was a good 
man, of marked traits of character, who 
gathered about him a company of followers 
and undertook important reforms and for- 
feited his life. After his martyr death 
there grew up as the result of natural ten- 
dencies a mass of beliefs about him which 
were largely fancy and fiction, and finally 
these were incorporated into written rec- 
ords and the Gospels are the result. 

I suggest two fatal objections to this view. 

(i) It is incredible that such a personage 
as the Christ of the Gospels could have 
been produced in this manner. His char- 
acter is a unity. It is marvelously sym- 
metrical. It is a character of great beauty 
and strength. The supernatural elements 
in it are harmonious with that character. 
And then the whole is a most remarkable 
consummation of a long series of prophecies 
running all through the Old Testament. 
Such a character could not have been pro- 
^ duced by such a method. The cause is 
inadequate to produce the effect. 

230 



tTbe JSible and Cbtist 

(2) Another difificulty is that this theory 
does not account for the immeasurably 
beneficent influence which Christ has had 
and still has in the world. If this theory 
be correct we must give up the miraculous 
birth, the resurrection, the ascension, the 
miracles, very much of the teachings, and 
the divinity of Christ. But these make up 
almost the whole of the Christ who has led 
the conquering hosts of Christendom. 
What, then, must we conclude ? This, 
that the leader of the greatest movement 
for the comforting, purifying, inspiring, and 
uplifting of the race which the world has 
ever known is the product of myth, fancy, 
overwrought imagination, and pious decep- 
tion. If this be true then it is also true 
that error is better than truth and the race 
moves upward under the beneficent influ- 
ence of falsehood. But this is absurd, and 
the theory which forces such conclusions 
must be rejected. 

3. The other view is that the only way 
satisfactorily to account for the Christ of 
the Gospels is to believe that he lived the 
life substantially as it is presented, that 
the real Jesus was the Christ whom we 
have found in these narratives. There 
is no other way to account for him. But 

231 



XTbe IBible in Abodctn Uidbt 

what does this imply as to the genuine- 
ness of the Gospels ? Here are certain 
narratives which describe a remarkable 
personage. But the character of this per- 
son as there described is such that he 
cannot be accounted for except on the sup- 
position that he was a real, living person- 
ality ; therefore we must conclude that the 
records which tell us of him are genuine 
and trustworthy. But these New Testa- 
ment records are but the story of the ful- 
fillment of the prophecies of the earlier 
records of the Old Testament, and so we 
bring them all together and say this book 
is the revelation of the Christ of God. 
This does not settle a hundred minor ques- 
tions of lower and higher criticism, but it 
does settle the great, central, underlying 
factor of divine revelation. *' God, who 
at sundry times and in divers manners 
spake in time past unto the fathers by the 
prophets, hath in these last days spoken 
unto us by his Son.'* 



232 



APPENDIX A 

(SEE PREFACE) 

BIBLE DEPARTMENT OF THE OMAHA 
WOMAN'S CLUB, 1902-I903 

Instructor, J. W. Conley, D. D. 
: Leader, Mrs. Mary E. Dumont. Assist- 
ant Leader, Mrs. Lillian R. Harford. Sec- 
retary and Treasurer, Mrs. Sarah C. Millen. 

This department meets every two weeks, 
on Thursday at 3.30 P. M., of the week of 
the regular meeting of the club. 

November 20. Right Attitude of Mind 
Toward the Bible. References : Gardiner, 
**Aids to Bible Study " ; Cave, ** Inspira- 
tion of Old Testament," Introduction. 

December 4. The Essential Character 
of the Bible. References: Ladd, **What 
is the Bible.?" Farrar, "The Bible, Its 
Meaning and Supremacy " ; Clark, ** Out- 
line of Theology," Introduction; Parker, 
*'None Like It"; Briggs, *'The Study of 
the Holy Scriptures." 

December 18. The Composition of the 
Bible. References: Gladden, ** Who Wrote 
the Bible ? " Adney, ** The Construction 

233 



BppenMi B 

of the Bible'*; Gibson, "The Unity and 
Symmetry of the Bible ** ; Hastings, ** Dic- 
tionary of the Bible,*' article, ** The Bi- 
ble " ; McClintock and Strong Cyclopaedia, 
**The Bible," Vol. L 

January 8. Manuscripts and Transla- 
tions. References : Merrill, ** The Parch- 
ments of the Faith"; Kenyon, **Our 
Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts," '* His- 
tory of the Texts and Translations"; 
Gladden, *' Who Wrote the Bible ? " 
** Harper's Monthly," November, 1902, 
"How the Bible Came Down to Us"; 
Hastings* Dictionary, articles, ** Text ** 
and "Versions.** 

January 22. Light From Ancient Mon- 
uments and Documents. References : 
Sayce, " Fresh Light from Ancient Monu- 
ments,** "Higher Criticism and the Monu- 
ments*' ; Driver, in Hogarth*s "Authority 
and Archasology ** ; Price, " The Monu- 
ments and the Old Testament"; Rawlin- 
son, " Historical Evidences." 

February 5. The Bible and Modern Sci- 
ence. References : Guyot, " Creation " ; 
White, " The Warfare of Science " ; Con- 
ley, " Evolution and Man " ; Abbott, 
"Theology of an Evolutionist"; Schur- 
man, "Agnosticism and Religion"; Le- 

234 



Bppendfx B 

Conte, ** Religion and Science '* ; Dawson, 
"Modern Science in Bible Lands." 

February 19. Influence of the Bible 
Upon Art. References : Goodyear or 
Lubke, *' History of Art"j Hurll, " The 
Madonna in Art'*; Farrar, **The Life of 
Christ in Art'* ; '* Art Journal," 22 : 33, 
** Christian Ideal in Art"; ** Arena," 
17 : I, ** Art's Relation to Religion " ; 
"North American Review," 79 : i, **Art 
and Religion " ; also same subject, *' Catho- 
lic World," 15 : 518, and ** Methodist Re- 
view," 54 : 697; Brace, ^* Gesta Christi,'* 
last chapter ; Chateaubriand, " Genius of 
Christianity," Part III., Book I. 

March 5. Ethics and the Bible. Refer- 
ences : Bruce, ** Ethics of the Old Testa- 
ment"; Baucus, ** Outlines of the Moral 
Teachings of the Bible " ; Ladd, " What is 
the Bible ? " Chap. IX. ; " American Bibli- 
cal Repository," third series, 4 : 554, ** Eth- 
ics of the Bible"; Hastings' Dictionary, 
article, ** Ethics " ; Weidner, ** Christian 
Ethics." 

March 19. The Bible and Woman. 
References: Gibbons, ** Our Christian 
Heritage," Chap. XXIII.-XXVII. ; Blake, 
** Woman's Place To-day " ; Hamilton, 
** Woman's Wrongs"; Storrs, *' Divine 

235 



ZlppenDiJC B 

Origin of Christianity," Index, "Wom- 
an " ; Barrows, ** Christianity the World's 
Religion,'* Lecture IV. ; Abbott, ** Chris- 
tianity and Social Problems," Chap. V. 
and XII.; Brace, *' Gesta Christi/* Index, 
"Woman." 

April 9. Educative Value of Bible Study. 
References : Moulton, " Literary Study of 
the Bible," " The Bible as Literature." 

April 16. The Bible and the Schools. 
References: "Nation," 9 : 430, "The 
Bible in the Public Schools " ; " Princeton 
Review," n. s., i : 361, same topic ; " New 
England," 29 : 496, " The Bible and the 
School " ; Hastings' Dictionary, article, 
" Education." 

April 30. Modern Progress and the 
Bible. References : Guilick, " The Growth 
of the Kingdom " ; Storrs, " Historical 
Effects"; Rigg, "The Bible and Modern 
Progress," Exeter Hall Lectures, Lecture 
XIV. ; Brace, ^'Gesta Christi'* ; Lorimer, 
"Argument for Christianity," Chap. VIII. ; 
Mackenzie, "Christianity and the Progress 
of Man." 

May 14. The Bible and Christ. Refer- 
ences : Ellicott, " Christus Comprohatur** ; 
Mead, " Christ and Criticism " ; Stalker, 
" The Christology of Jesus " ; Breed, 

236 



BppenDix :S& 

** Preparation of the World for Christ ** ; 
Smith, ** Prophecy a Preparation for 
Christ '* ; Behrends, ** Old Testament 
Under Fire," Chap. III. ; Cairns, ** Christ 
the Central Evidence. '* 

All of these works to which reference is 
made may be procured by application to 
the publishers of this book. 



APPENDIX B 

Omaha, neb., May 27, 1903. 
Rev. Dr. Conley : 

Dear Sir: At the last meeting of the 
Department for the Study of the Bible, a 
unanimous vote decided that a letter of 
appreciation and thanks be sent you which 
would in some measure express our grate-i 
fulness for the manner in which you have 
directed our thought, and the uplift your 
carefully prepared topics have given to all 
those who were privileged to hear them. 
The year has been brightened and our 
hearts strengthened by the noble and help- 
ful periods which the Bible Department has 
enjoyed through your faithful guidance. 

237 



BppenDix J9 

We earnestly hope that you can arrange to 
be our instructor for the coming year, as 
we should feel your loss greatly. The high 
esteem in which you are held as a Chris- 
tian gentleman and most eloquent and in- 
structive teacher, prompted us to express 
ourselves. 

Trusting that its receipt will afford you 
as much pleasure as it gives us to send this 
letter, we are. Yours respectfully, all the 
members of the Bible Department. 

S. C. MILLEN, Secretary. 



238 



JUN 16 1904 




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